Harry Potter and the Summoner's Stone
by Lochar
Summary: A simple question from Harry during his vault visit in book 1 changes his life, as Harry accesses a family vault. And a stone there that will change his life, even more than finding out he is a wizard did.
1. A simple question

A/N: I'm baaack! Let me know what you think of it.

I'm borrowing just a bit from Final Fantasy, so there's very little need to know anything about it.

* * *

Watching Hagrid grab whatever it was out of the vault, it dawned on Harry something that Uncle Vernon had at his bank that might be here as well.

"Umm…" he started, and both Griphook and Hagrid turned to look at him. "Did my parents have a safe deposit box… I mean vault here? With stuff other than money, like this one had something?" He looked down, quiet.

Griphook looked puzzled for a moment, before nodding. "There is the Potter Family Vault, yes. It has heirlooms and family things. You wish to go there as well?"

"We've gotta lotta things ta do 'Arry, don think we've got time. Gotta get yer supplies and then I gotta get this ter Dumbledore." Hagrid said, patting the pocket where he had put the object from this vault.

Harry drooped. "Please, Hagrid. Just a few minutes?"

"Ahright, ahright. Still in Gringotts, so not like it isn't safe 'ere."

Griphook growled. "I would dare say so. Back in the cart and we will go to Vault Twenty-Seven."

The cartridge was again fast, insane, and seemed to dive deeper and deeper into the earth as they whizzed through. Several times, Harry heard thunderous roars that seemed entirely too close by for comfort.

Eventually though, the cart came to a jarring halt at a larger platform stop and the three riders got out. "The Potter Family Vault, Vault Twenty-Seven." Griphook said, then looked to Hagrid. "Potter blood only, past the door. I'm not interested in dragging your corpse out of here, so don't go in."

Hagrid's face paled and he shook his head. "I think I'll sit in the cart. 'Arry, don't spend too long in there, ahright?"

Harry nodded to the big man, looking at the huge door curiously. It looked pretty much the same as the doors at the other two vaults, but a bit wider. Maybe a double door? He looked at Griphook. "How do I open it, Mr. Griphook?"

The goblin sighed. "Touch the left side of the door, run you finger down it. I'll do the same afterwards if you're not absorbed by the door for not being a Potter. It will open afterwards."

Gulping, Harry looked at the door remembering what Griphook had said. They checked for people once a decade. Nervously, he walked up to the door and reached out, watching his shaking hand. Touching the door, he ran his finger down it, dust coming off the door and sticking to his finger, though he didn't stick to the door.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he stepped back to let Griphook move up.

The goblin said nothing as he traced the exact same path Harry had taken, and the metal groaned as it split down the center, double doors opening. Harry gasped, looking in.

"Step in, Mr. Potter. The doors will close again once you step out. Otherwise, I am required to wait for you here."

"Thank you very much." Harry said absently, stepping in. Would he find pictures of his parents? A home movie maybe? Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had plenty of those of Dudley, so maybe something like that would be here from his parents.

But as he stepped in, he realized it might be a long while finding something like that. It seemed to be huge in here, and filled with old furniture, and covered paintings, and enough stuff to fill the Dursley house a dozen times over, with more even beyond.

Turning back and looking out the door, he voiced a question. "Umm, is there a list or something of everything in here?"

"No." Griphook shook his head. "But if you're looking for curiosities…" he pointed a long finger in, behind Harry. "Potter's Folly is behind you a bit."

"Potter's Folly?"

"A mithril armlet." Griphook snorted.

Hagrid's voice jumped in, as the cart shook as the giant man jumped in it. "Mithril!"

Harry looked confused. "What is mithril? And why is it a Folly?"

"Mithril is an exotically rare metal that can only be mined from the mantle of the earth, and requires heat in excess of dragonfire to forge. It is so magically reactive that it is one of the primary components of wardstones for megalith constructions such as the castle of Hogwarts and the entirety of Diagon Alley. That armlet is Potter's Folly because there is enough mithril in it to re-ward approximately half of the British Isles. And it is currently in your vault fused onto a pedestal. The past twenty generations of Potters have not been able to remove it, though at least one died trying. No one knows who put it there or why."

Eyes unblinking and wide, Harry turned and saw the pedestal. It sat a little higher than his stomach and a circle of silvery metal was half sunk into it. The armlet was unadorned save a single red gem embedded into it. The gem itself was a bit larger than his thumbnail and seemed to glow with a flickering, inner light. He got closer to the pedestal, looking at it.

"No, I do not know what the gem is." Griphook offered, before Harry could ask. "Although it sent two Potter men into gemwork, and three into Alchemy to try to discover what it was, in an attempt to get the armlet."

Harry nodded, looking at the gem. "She's pretty."

"Excuse me?" Griphook asked, the question not making any sense to the goblin.

Harry's breath was visible as he breathed out, the temperature dropping rapidly. Ice crystals seemed to be forming on the pedestal, hanging off of it as Harry reached out to touch the gem.

"Mr. Potter!" "'Arry!" two voices called out, perturbed over the ice that was creeping out of the vault.

"But how is she in the gem?" Harry asked, before touching it.

The flicker died out for a moment, before blazing forth, energy encircling the boy before he felt something latch on inside of him, drawing heavily. Ice crystals slammed into the ground from nowhere, before a reflection appeared in it. A young woman of maybe nineteen or twenty with blue tinged skin and long darker blue hair was visible in each facet of the ice crystal. And then the crystals shattered and melted away, leaving just her.

Harry blushed a bit, seeing as how she was only in what looked like a blue bikini.

The young woman looked around, frowning. "I am not summoned to attack." She then looked to Harry curiously. "You are the anchor for my summoning?"

"Maybe? I…I…I just touched the gem." Harry looked bewildered, pointing to the pedestal. The woman bent slightly, looking at the gem.

"'Arry! What happened!" Hagrid yelled from the cart, while Griphook stared, his eyes nearly able to fall out of his head.

"Materia. And you're holding the summon open to give me an Esper form? Powerful boy, aren't you?" She turned to Harry, who stood there stunned. "I am the Empress of Ice and Snow, Shiva. And you are the first person to use any method to summon me, much less one such as this, in an extraordinarily long time. What purpose made you do so?" She put the question to Harry.

"I could see you in the gem and you looked pretty. I touched the gem and… uh… you appeared?" Harry tried to answer.

Caught offguard, Shiva laughed. "I looked pretty, and that was your entire reason? You're a very interesting person. I can see what a strain on you keeping me here is though." Harry did feel like he'd been chased by Dudley for a couple of hours, actually. "If you'll just wear the armlet, we can talk and I can appear to you at a much reduced energy requirement, though only you will be able to converse with me. You'll need a lot more power to keep me Esper bound for any length of time."

"Mr. Griphook said the armlet can't be removed." Harry pointed to the goblin.

Said goblin was still attempting to figure out something to say as Shiva turned to him. "Empress Shiva?" the goblin asked, finally managed to regain his wits, even as Hagrid had finally lumbered back out of the cart and onto the vault platform, his own eyes wide and blushing.

"Yes." She turned back to Harry, nodding to the armlet. "Have you tried?"

Harry shook his head, then reached out to the armlet. Thinking about the story of King Arthur, Harry almost wasn't shocked when the armlet lifted out of the indention with ease.

"Perfect!" Shiva smiled. "Now, hold out your offhand arm please."

Harry shrugged, finally deciding to just go with the flow now. Holding out his left arm, the Ice Empress took the armlet from Harry and it opened at her touch. She circled it around his upper arm, and locked in back on. The seam sealed back into nothing, leaving a piece of magical metal around his arm that appeared to have no way to remove it, save taking the arm.

"Now, I'm going to let go of the pull from my end. I'll keep just enough to speak with you if you want." Shiva offered.

Still confused about the entire thing, Harry nodded. And then Shiva shimmered, her body falling into snowflakes. Harry immediately felt better, though he could almost feel the gem on his arm now, a red gem that seemed to have a little red thread running from it into him. Following the thread in his mind, Harry found another red gem it was attached to. This gem was much more translucent and seemed to actually be a deeper red at the edges. It felt like it was sitting over his heart. As he thought about it, the gem actually seemed to darken ever so slightly, while the thread pulled a bit of the color away into the gem on the armlet.

Confused but accepting, Harry shrugged.

_Much better._ Shiva's voice seemed to ghost in his head. _I don't have to worry about hurting you this way. We'll speak more about us later. Just let me get my center again, ok?_

"Uh, alright." Harry said to empty air.

Looking around the vault, Harry winced as he saw the ice had broken a few pieces of the nearby furniture. Sighing, Harry walked out. "I guess I'm done in here now, right?"

Griphook, having gotten control of himself now that Shiva wasn't visible, responded with a sharp nod. "Yes. Would you mind speaking with my manager about what happened here?"

Hagrid interrupted as Harry was beginning to speak, however. "We gotta finish 'Arry's school shopping, and I hafta take Dumbledore his package. 'Sides, Dumbledore will know what to do about this. I'll let him know about it."

Griphook sighed. "Very well. Any more side trips, or will we be returning to the lobby now?"

Hagrid gave a green look at the cart. "Back to the lobby."

The minecart ride back to the surface was quiet, or at least as quiet as it could be with Hagrid holding on for dear life and muttering prayers and oaths about the breakneck speeds the cart was going. Harry just grinned at it all, while Griphook was unaffected.

It was ten minutes before the three returned back to the lobby. Griphook nodded to the two. "If you will not speak with a manager, I must be off to make my own report. Mr. Hagrid, do be aware that someone will be contacting the Supreme Mugwump about this. Mr. Potter is carrying an immeasurable fortune on his arm."

Hagrid winced at the reminder. "Yeah. I'll let 'im know." He put a hand on Harry's shoulder, guiding him forward. "Come on 'Arry, let's go to Olivander's next."

_A fortune? I wonder, does the goblin mean the armlet, or my Materia?_ Shiva's voice echoed in Harry's head once more, followed by a giggle.

"Probably the armlet." Harry answered aloud.

Hagrid looked at him, and Harry tapped his arm. Hagrid sighed, the breath blowing out from him knocking a hat off a passing wizard as they stepped out of the bank.

_Think the words, and I will hear them as well._

Harry nodded. _At least I won't be thought of as crazy then, I guess._

Hagrid led the Boy-Who-Lived through the crowded streets towards a shop, where Harry read the sign for Olivanders.

_Makers of Fine Wands?_ Shiva's voice asked him.

Harry shrugged, his weird, crazy, and insane meters having pegged out and broken about the time Shiva had appeared in ice crystals. _My first day here. I have absolutely no clue, Empress Shiva._

_Just call me Shiva, please. I'd rather be on speaking terms with a summoner._

_Yes ma'am._

Harry could feel the eyeroll.

Hagrid opened the door, pushing Harry inside. The man's eyes were still a touch unnerved from what had happened at the bank.

Harry looked around the shop with a fair bit of interest, seeing thousands of little boxes lining the walls and shelves.

"Ah, Mr. Potter. I had expected to see you soon."

Harry jumped, turning around to find a strange older man looking at him with his own curious look.

"I am Olivander. Welcome to my shop. I remember your parents when they first arrived…" he trailed off, looking at Hagrid's face. "Is there something wrong?"

Hagrid gave the wandmaker an uneasy look. "Kin we hurry? 'Arry's had a bit of an issue, and I needta tell Dumbledore about it when we're done shopping."

Olivander harrumphed. "Oh, if we must. But remember Rubeus, the wand chooses the wizard. It may take us a while." With that, he held up a tape measure and let it go. The measure floated through the air and began measuring Harry, as Olivander started walking through the shelves.

Harry had a slight grin on his face as the tape measure went after the armlet almost immediately, measuring it in detail. As it did so, Olivander walked through the shelves of boxes and grabbed one. "Hawthorn and unicorn, ten and a half inches. Let's see how this one does for you, Mr. Potter."

Walking back, he handed the wand over to Harry. "Well, give it a swish." He encouraged.

Bringing it up, he only got half way through making any motion with it before it was snatched out of his hand. "No, not that. Let's continue."

Olivander set the wand aside and went for another box. Pulling it out, he offered it up. "Ash and Ukrainian Ironbelly heartstring. Fourteen inches."

Again, Harry barely managed to bring the longer stick up, before having it taken again.

"Nope. Not that either." Olivander smiled, moving away once more.

Long minutes stretched out as Harry tried wand after wand, none of them doing a single thing. Hagrid shifted as he stood there watching as dozens, and then over a hundred boxes littered the counter and spilled backwards.

Olivander looked at Harry questioningly. "Perhaps?" He walked further back into the shop, returning with another box. Offering the wand inside, he spoke. "Holly, eleven inches with a phoenix tail core."

Shrugging at yet another wand, Harry took it and was surprised when Olivander allowed him a full swish. However, he wasn't surprised when yet again nothing happened.

"Curiouser and curiouser." Olivander nodded, taking the wand back. "I had almost thought that one would be the one. Well, we shall continue." He walked back once more among the shelves, mumbling to himself.

_This is quite boring._ Shiva's voice echoed in Harry's head, making him start, still unused to hearing such a thing. _Do you mind if I draw a bit of your magic? While I may be able to see from your eyes currently, I would prefer to be able to look about a bit more than that._

_Uh, go ahead?_ Harry thought back into his head.

Harry felt the gem over his heart spark, for lack of a better word, and some of the color that had come back to the gem faded, drawn along the connecting string. As it touched the gem on the armlet, much of the color in that gem faded as well.

The air shimmered in front of Harry's eyes, and Shiva's form appeared once more. Neither Hagrid nor Olivander seemed to notice.

"_This is a metaphysical form, not the flesh one from earlier. Much less of a burden on the both of us."_ Shiva spoke, but her voice still only echoed in his mind. _"In this manner, I may move within your own eyesight and see things for myself, though I cannot touch them."_

As she stepped away, the tape measure jumped away from the armlet, and began circling Shiva. Harry snickered as it began measuring her.

The Ice Empress looked at the thing, raising a single blue eyebrow. Before she could speak however, Olivander returned with another box.

"Oak, and the tear of a Unicorn. Seven inches." Olivander stopped for a moment, looking towards his tape measure, and then back to Harry. "Why is it measuring empty air? It should specifically be measuring you for magic output."

Harry laughed just a bit as the wandmaker poked the air it was measuring, his finger actually going through Shiva's arm and into her side.

He then turned to Harry once more. "Mr. Potter. We have gone through nigh on two hundred wands. While I fully expect to find you a working wand, I had also expected some sort of reaction from you, from at least a few of the others. It would give me a better idea on your leanings in a wand." He stepped forward. "However, I have had zero reactions in your magic. For Merlin's sake, I've seen more reactions in Squibs than from you. Heaven above, we've been through enough wands already that the dormant magic that is the soul would have at least caused a Muggle to react to one wand, even if it was badly."

"But you. You've had no reaction. Nothing. And now my measure is measuring a random bit of air. Which makes me think that somehow, you have a bit of magic sitting there."

Harry smiled at the measure and Shiva, as she had unlooped one strand of her hair, allowing it to fully measure how long it was.

"There is something there, but I do not know what. Nothing is hidden from me in my shop, Mr. Potter, or at least it should not be."

Olivander pulled a wand of his own, swishing it over the counter. Several hundred wands jumped at his silent command, sliding back into boxes and lids back over them. Each box rose into the air, and flew back onto the shelves.

"What is different about that spot, Mr. Potter?" Olivander asked, putting his wand away once more.

"_Oh, that was a very interesting use of a Float. I had no idea it was versatile enough to tag multiple objects and move them under someone's control."_ Shiva said, finally looking interested.

Harry looked at Shiva, and the over to all the boxes. "Float?"

At Harry's questioning word, every box on the shelves, the shelves themselves, and a rather large chunk of the floor ripped free and began floating. Each box separately floating from the shelf it had been on, and shelves not touching the floating floorboards anymore.

Again, the gem on his heart dimmed, but nowhere near the same level as when Shiva had appeared.

"Morgana 'n Merlin!" Hagrid bellowed, backing up, and Olivander's eyes appeared ready to pop.

"_A spell. And I think you need to not use it, until you have a bit of control. I have not seen this level of usage before, in a mortal. You used it as a Command."_ Shiva answered, her own eyes widened ever so slightly in surprise as she looked at Harry's work.

"Mr. Potter, exactly what did you just do?" Olivander asked. The wandmaker sighed and pulled his own wand once more, and began flicking it around, trying to ground everything. "And praytell, how did you manage it?"

"You put the boxes away, and Shiva said it was an interesting use of Float. I asked her what it was and that happened." Harry waved a hand to the shop that Olivander was only slowly getting back under control.

"Shiva?" Olivander asked.

Hagrid just sighed, trying to explain. "He managed ta get tha Folly. E's wearing it, Ollervander. Shiva's got somethin ta do with it."

Olivander sunk to the floor, his work trying to ground his shop forgotten. He gave an almost blank look at Harry. "You are wearing Potter's Folly?"

"Yes?" Harry answered back, pulling his overly large sleeve up to reveal the silvery metal armlet clasped on him.

Olivander looked at it for only a few seconds, before jumping up and rounding on Hagrid. "And you didn't immediately take him to St. Mungo's, or to Dumbledore, or ANYTHING!"

"We hadta finish his shopping. Then I was gonna let Dumbledore know." Hagrid answered, looking confused.

Olivander flipped the sign on his shop to closed. "Come, Mr. Potter, Hagrid. We're going to go to Hogwarts and figure this out. I cannot give you a wand that would better match magic than mithril, and something of this nature needs to be brought up to Dumbledore immediately." He glared at Hagrid.

"Goblins said that too. And I told ya when we came in 'Arry had a problem." Hagrid tried to defend himself.

"It's not hurting me." Harry shrugged. "So I'm fine."

A ghostly laugh came from Shiva. _Oh, you are going to be an interesting one, Harry._ She disappeared from his sight, her laugh still echoing in his mind.

The tape measure, now having nothing of Shiva to measure, immediately tried to return to Harry. Olivander just grabbed it from the air and it stopped moving. "Let's just go to the Leaky Cauldron. We'll need to Floo into the castle. This is a most unexpected day."

_You can say that again._ Harry thought to himself. And Shiva, apparently when her voice began laughing again.

* * *

Shiva's particular look comes from the FFX summoning of her. Just search youtube for Shiva FF10 to see her. I'll introduce her more at a later point.


	2. Not so simple answers

A/N: Well received for my return fic, I see. At the current moment, I have 15 Reviews and am on 72 Story alerts. In slightly less than 24 hours. I love you people.

* * *

_The Leaky Cauldron_

The people watching him didn't get to see him long, though there were even more stares this time, as Olivander quickly and quietly explained how to use the Floo to Harry.

"Call out 'Hogwarts Receiving Room' and then step into the flames. I'll be right behind you, Hagrid first." Olivander said, taking a pinch of the powder and tossing it into the cheerily burning flames, which turned green upon contact.

Hagrid stepped up, his huge body dwarfing the fireplace. Harry wondered how the man would even fit into the fireplace itself, much less the now green flames. _Magic, I guess._

"'Ogwarts Recievin' Room!" Hagrid boomed, and stepped into the flame. His body seemed to be sucked into the fire and he vanished.

Stepping up as well, Harry looked at it with trepidation, before looking back to the wandmaker that insisted he had to go. "Is there any other way to go there, other than burning myself up?"

"The castle is warded against apparition and portkeys. You could fly a broomstick, but it'd be a daylong flight to do so." Olivander explained. "And you're not going to burn up. The powder changes the flames into a portal. Now, step through. Be sure to speak clearly."

"Yes sir." Harry nodded. Hagrid had went through at least, and he didn't seem to be worried about it. And it wasn't like when Dudley tried to make him do things to hurt himself. Taking a deep breath, he spoke aloud, but did not shout like Hagrid had. "Hogwarts Receiving Room." And with that, stepped into the merrily burning fire.

The words seemed to catch the flames, or something to that effect. Because the moment he stepped into the fire, he was thrown forward and Harry felt like he was spinning as dozens of grates passed around him. Jamming his eyes shut to stop the spinning, Harry stumbled as he slammed to a stop in front of a grate, falling through it.

And began falling onto his face, barely managing to throw his arms out to try to stop from meeting to floor with his already taped glasses.

"Hey there!" Hagrid grabbed Harry before he could fall. "Ya okay, 'Arry?" The big man set Harry back on his feet and looked at him.

"Thank you, Hagrid." Harry smiled at his friend.

The fire flared once more, and Olivander stepped out, looking at the two of them.

_That… was horrendous. If at all possible, please refrain from travelling by that method again. I do not particularly enjoy fire, especially of the magical type. _Shiva's voice said. Harry could almost feel her shiver.

_Yes ma'am. As best as I can._ Harry thought back to her, before looking to the two adults.

"Come on, Mr. Potter. We have a Headmaster to see." Olivander motioned forward.

* * *

Standing in front of a gargoyle statue, Olivander studied it for a moment before looking to Hagrid. "If you would, I assume you have the password?"

Hagrid blinked. "Oh, uh, yeah. Rock cakes!" He called to the gargoyle.

Harry was only mildly surprised when it jumped to the side, and a staircase rose behind it, leading upwards.

"Ah, Hagrid. Come up." A voice said as they stepped onto the staircase.

"It's more than Hagrid, Albus." Olivander stated as he took the steps quickly.

The voice didn't answer, but it was only a few seconds climbing to be at a door. Before Hagrid could knock, it swung open to reveal a busy office. Several chairs of various make were set in front of a large desk, and behind the desk a very old man sat, his hands folded as he watched the three people enter. A long gray beard twitched as his silver eyebrows rose in faint surprise at his guests.

Behind the old man were several bookcases, lined with both books and random trinkets that spun, flickered, or twinkled all on their own. To the side was a metal perch for a bird, and on it a large, beautifully plumed bird sat, preening.

_Phoenix? _ Shiva's voice asked, almost startled.

Harry shrugged, as the adults in the room were beginning to speak.

"Before we begin with Mr. Potter, you did manage to pick up the package from Gringotts, Hagrid?" The old man asked.

Hagrid started patting pockets and digging through them, though this time he didn't pull out things like he had at the hut when he rescued Harry. Finally, he put a hand into one, going much deeper than Harry would have expected when his forearm went halfway into the pocket, before pulling back out the wrapped object that he'd taken.

Offering it to the man behind the desk, he took it and placed it in a drawer. Then looking back to the three waiting, he smiled at Harry. "I am Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts." He then pushed a little candy tray forward. "Would any of you care for a lemon drop, before we go into whatever brought you here?"

"No."

"No thank ya, Headmaster."

A rumbling came from Harry, who looked down without answering. All three adults looked at Harry.

"Hungry, Mr. Potter?" Dumbledore asked, smiling.

Harry shook his head, and then apparently changed his mind nodding very slightly. "Yes sir. But I don't need to eat anything." His stomach growled again, giving him away.

_No, you do. You are hungry enough that you are making me hungry, and I literally do not eat._ Shiva commented.

Harry sighed. "I don't have anything to buy food with, so I can't eat anything." He whispered, before looking up. "Could I work for some food, maybe?"

Dumbledore, Olivander, and Hagrid all blinked rapidly at Harry's comment and question. And then Dumbledore rubbed his temples, before speaking. "Sika?"

A pop, and a little creature appeared. "Yesse sir, Headmasters?" she said in a piping voice.

"Bring a few sandwiches up here for Mr. Potter please."

The little creature beamed. "Yesse sir!" before disappearing and reappearing seconds later with a tray with several sandwiches on it, handing it to Harry. Harry smiled uncertainly back at the creature as it popped again, vanishing.

Albus nodded. "Hogwarts provides for its students, Mr. Potter, of which you are one now. You will never have to work or pay for a meal here."

The relief and huge smile on Harry's face sent a rather uneasy feeling through the Headmaster, who just waved a hand for Harry to sit and eat.

"Now, what brings you here Olivander, and with young Mr. Potter, no less?" Albus asked.

"Mr. Potter will not be getting a wand, because in one hundred and ninety two wands, including seven of my specials designed solely to cause a magical reaction, Mr. Potter had not a single reaction." The wandmaker answered. "And that is because there is not a wand on Earth that can overcome the focus he is currently wearing to make a connection to his magic. Every wand in my shop could choose him, all at once, and it would avail them none."

"Excuse me?" Albus' incredulous question could be forgiven, considering the circumstances.

"Potter's Folly, Albus. He's wearing a pure mithril armlet."

The kind eyes of the Headmaster widened in shock, snapping over to Harry who was already on the second sandwich. Harry just shrunk into the chair at the attention. "I'm sorry?" Harry half asked, half offered.

Hagrid shuffled his feet where he stood. "He asked tha goblin about other vaults, and I let 'im go in there. Knew ya needed me back quick, but didn't think it'd hurt ta let him look at 'is parents stuff, Headmaster. Next thing I knew, he touches tha Folly, and some blue lady named Shiva appeared."

_That's Empress Shiva, or the Empress of Ice and Snow you dolt. You are not on a first name basis with me!_ Shiva raged in Harry's mind. Harry stayed quiet, not wanting to draw any more attention to the trouble he had apparently caused.

"No, that was quite alright, Hagrid. I would not stop any child from learning about their parents." Dumbledore said, looking at the now slightly squirming young boy. "You are not in any trouble, Harry. I promise you that. May I see your armlet?"

Nodding, Harry lifted his sleeve again, hitching the large amount of extra cloth over his shoulder to show the silvery metal.

Dumbledore stood and walked around the desk to Harry, crouching down to get a better look. "Very interesting. It appears to be almost molded to your arm. I know from sketches from past Potters that it is sized for a larger arm though. Very interesting."

Standing again, Dumbledore nodded. "It is mithril though, I recognize it from the Hogwarts wardstone. Now Hagrid, you said something about a person named Shiva?"

"Empress Shiva." Harry added, before continuing. "She says she isn't on a first name basis with any of you."

Dumbledore froze, as both Hagrid and Olivander took their turn staring at Harry as well. Turning back to look at Harry once more, the Headmaster looked at him closely. "She is speaking with you now?"

Harry nodded.

"A magical item focus with a brain of its own?" Dumbledore whispered, his face drawing up. "Most of those type of items are very dangerous artifacts, Mr. Potter. We may have to see about taking that mind out of there. I would not take a family heirloom from you, but it may be cursed."

An icy feeling settled on Harry, as the gem in the armlet seemed to frost over slightly. _You're going to need to summon me, Harry. I'm not going to be able to properly take strips out of this arrogant mortal's hide if I have to speak through you._

_Didn't you say it was a strain on me, or something like that?_ Harry asked back.

_It will not be for very long, and if you use a proper summoning instead of just feeding magic until an Esper body forms for me, it will be less draining as well. The words should come to you, if you consider them._

Harry looked at the headmaster, shaking his head. "She wants to speak with you, sir."

Drawing a wand, the Headmaster shook his head as well. "I'm not going to let her take over your body, Mr. Potter."

"No sir, she said I could summon her to speak with you." Harry stopped, remembering the damage in the vault and looked around. "Though, it's kinda small in here and I don't want her to break anything."

"I can repair anything that might break, but I would prefer to silence this voice completely, Mr. Potter. There are many dangerous things in the magical world, and you would do yourself wrong to trust something that you do not know where it keeps its mind."

Olivander had pulled his wand out as well, though it was not pointed at anything in particular.

_Silence me? Silence ME! My mind is tied to the Materia, which is tied to the Throne of Ice! There, now you know!_

Harry nodded, before standing. Shiva was nice to him, a friend. His second one, if you counted Hagrid as the first. He didn't want to lose a friend, such a precious thing. Breathing out, Harry didn't notice it fogged up, as if in the cold. "I know where her mind is kept, sir. And she wants to speak with you. You said you can repair this room, so I'm going to summon her."

Dumbledore backed up, wand at the ready. Olivander and Hagrid too moved to prepare themselves.

Closing his eyes, Harry considered Shiva, thought about how he was supposed to summon her. Opening his eyes as words came to him, he did not notice Dumbledore start at them, and for when looking at them they appeared to be green cat's eyes.

[_Empress of Ice and Snow, I beseech the Throne of Ice. I offer magic to build the form and request your appearance for so long as it holds, at your pleasure!]_

Though the eyes had given a start to the Headmaster, the hissing words caused all three to nearly jump back as Dumbledore raised his wand cautiously.

The gem above his heart had been slowing deepening in color without his notice, until it had been a fairly dark red. At these words however, the gem turned almost pink as energy flowed from it through the string tying it to the Materia on his arm.

Like in the vault, the room turned nearly frozen for a moment as ice shards began to form. The phoenix squawked and began radiating its own heat to keep its perch from freezing over, that was the only place warm in the room. Large ice crystals formed once more, and slammed into each other in front of Harry, and he saw the form of Shiva appear in the ice reflections.

The ice in the room shattered taking with it most of the objects that had frozen, and Shiva stepped forward imperiously, staring at the headmaster, who could not quite find it in himself to raise a wand against her. At least, not without her offering an attack first. Harry had warned that her summoning would break things.

"I am Shiva, Empress of Ice and Snow." She allowed the men in the room to look at her body for a moment, before clicking her fingers. "Look at me when I speak to you, unless you wish to bow on bended knee while I command you."

Three sets of eyes flew up to her face, various levels of blushes as the wizards controlled themselves. Harry smiled at his friend, though he could only see her from behind as she addressed the others.

"Now, you see that I am not a curse. You may consider me to be a spirit, summoned by Harry through an expenditure of his magic to give me a form, though I have my own magic to use once I am summoned." She looked over to the firebird sitting on its perch still, watching the proceedings. "Much like Phoenix. We both tie up a portion of the magical energy of our summoner while we reside in the mortal world."

Dumbledore quickly cut his eyes over to the bird. "Fawkes?" Said bird quickly disappeared into a burst of flame, vanishing from its perch. At that, Dumbledore turned back. "Madam"

"Empress" Shiva cut him off.

"Empress then. Do you know who his summoner is? He has been my familiar for quite some time, though I am certain I was not the one to summon him."

"No. I only know of my own link to my summoner. You would have to ask Phoenix, if he returns. And if he deigns to speak in a manner that you understand." Shiva waved it away, returning to her original rant. "Understand this, I will not allow you to take me from Harry. I do not know how much time has passed since I was last summoned, but I can tell it has been at least an age, since magic now focuses through something other than our fragments."

She strode over to the window, looking out it for a moment. "I will not be trifled with, and I am unused to having my wishes unfulfilled. Should you manage to seal me away, I will return. And I will have vengeance. Let me show you a fraction of my power."

Holding her hand out, Shiva blew over it. A cold wind flew from her, knocking the window open and a deep winter breeze floated over the grounds towards the lake. As it touched the water, everyone in the room heard her whisper. "Diamond Dust."

Dumbledore's eyes widened as the lake froze over immediately. "The merpeople!"

"Only the first six inches of water froze. I was not interested in killing anyone, Headmaster Dumbledore. It should thaw in the next few hours."

Shiva turned. "Do we have an understanding?"

Surprised by the show of power, and then the show of understanding in her mercy, Dumbledore nodded. "Very few magical items I know of with an intelligence are benign, Empress Shiva, so you will have to forgive my suspicion. But so long as you show no harm to Mr. Potter, I will not attempt to break the bond between the two of you."

"I have to forgive nothing, but I shall this time." With those words, Shiva's body broke apart into snow, which fell to the floor and melted.

Everyone looked at the melting snow for a moment, before looking back to the Headmaster.

Sighing, Dumbledore looked to Hagrid. "Could you please see to breaking some of that ice up. See what you can do to get it melting faster, as the merpeople and the squid are probably unhappy with the early winter that just happened for them."

"Yes sir, Headmaster!" Hagrid grinned, happy to be getting away. He fairly fled the office, keeping well away from the open window and the melted snow. Though he did give a smile to Harry.

"So you're just going to let this continue on then, Albus?" Olivander asked from where he had been watching.

"I see very little danger, as Harry appears to have made a strong friend in this Empress Shiva. And a great deal for him to gain." Dumbledore looked over to the just barely eleven year old. The plate sat empty on his lap. "Considering everything though, I would ask you to refrain from summoning her indoors anymore. I hadn't realized the level of destruction it would bring."

Harry winced. "I'm sorry, sir."

"No, I told you I could fix everything in here, and I can. How far through your shopping did you get with Hagrid?" Dumbledore quickly overrode Harry's apologies before moving on.

"Mr. Olivander's shop was the first thing we were doing, after visiting the bank, sir." Harry responded.

"So none of it then. Minerva might be willing to pick up your supplies for you, along with a wand." He thought outloud.

"I told you, he won't be able to use a wand. Not while he is wearing that armlet." Olivander reminded him.

Dumbledore shook his head. "A blank. I would prefer Mr. Potter to not have to show off his armlet, as it would cause problems."

Olivander nodded. "True, true. I need to go fix my shop again as well." The wandmaker then nodded to Harry. "Mr. Potter. I expect you will do many wondrous things during your time." With that, Olivander left as well, leaving Harry alone in the room with the Headmaster.

Dumbledore then walked back to his desk, sighing as he poked at a few broken items there with his wand. They drug themselves back together after a moment, and then he looked to Harry. "So, Mr. Potter, do you mind staying in the castle for a while, so that my deputy can get your supplies for you?"

Harry shook his head. "No sir. Uncle Vernon will be happy for me to be gone longer."

"Really?" Dumbledore sighed. "Little matter at the moment, unfortunately. Let us get you set up for the day in Gryffindor Tower.

* * *

_Gryffindor Common Room_

Harry smiled as he poked around the common room, left to his own devices for a little while. Professor McGonagall, who had been introduced to him as the Deputy Headmistress as well, had left him in here with a few books and an admonishment to not cause too much trouble.

That wasn't really an issue, as Shiva had asked for a bit of magic from Harry again, and was sitting in one of the chairs furthest away from the banked fireplace, staring into space.

"_Harry, there is a problem."_ Shiva said, her ethereal voice holding a note of apprehension in it.

Harry sat in another chair across from her, relaxing into the most comfortable chairs he'd ever sat in. It even beat the one time he'd managed to tag along with the Dursley's to a furniture store and he'd fallen asleep in one of the recliners there. "Um, can I help with it?"

Shiva smiled at her summoner. _"I am not sure if you can, but I will let you know what it is. That casting of Diamond Dust took a large amount of energy from me. The power in the Materia you have is just a fragment of the power drawn from my Throne of Ice. When the summoning ends, I reach back to the Throne to refill the power drawn into the Materia. However, the Throne is empty and does not respond to my call."_ Shiva's voice was filled with many things, most of which Harry didn't understand. Though he did understand the utter confusion.

"_Had I been dethroned since I was last summoned, I would have seen who the new claimant is. However, it is like the Throne does not even recognize anyone. I would have to return there to reclaim my seat."_

Harry frowned. "So you're going to have to leave?"

Shiva shook her head. _"No, the only energy I have now is what is left in the Materia. If we were to break the bond between us, I would go dormant, which is what I expect had happened to me before you touched my Materia in that vault. For now, I will have to severely ration the usage of my power."_

"Can I take you to this Throne then?" Harry asked, trying to be helpful.

Shiva laughed, a smile on her face now. _"Thank you for offering, but I do not know the layout of the world as it is now, or where the Throne might reside. So long as you hold onto my Materia though, I shall be alright."_


	3. A question of Houses

A/N: I can't promise a chapter every day, but you guys absolutely rock with the response I've been getting. It's on the Story Alert of 150 people now. Apparently, a few of you even like it. *smile*

* * *

The small platform with the steam engine train at it was teeming with people. Entrance into this station was normally by a wall between platforms nine and ten, as this was the platform referred to as Nine and Three Quarters. People could be seen to be entering from a wall on one side and greeting one another.

However, there is another way onto this platform. Here and there people could be seen appearing as if from thin air, the crack of displaced air the signs of a magical transportation. It was one of these cracks that deposited a woman with her hair pulled back into a severe bun and a small, black haired child already dressed in black Hogwarts robes, without any House color trim.

She gave a faint smile to the little boy in black robes, before nodding along the station. "Now, do you remember the rules, Mr. Potter?" She said to him, waiting his response.

"Yes Professor McGonagall." Harry answered back. "No magic on the train because I haven't been sorted yet. When I get off the train, find Hagrid. No spending more than three Galleons on treats because we will be eating once we get into the castle and sorted."

"Correct. Now, onto the train with you." McGonagall gave him another faint smile before pointing him to the train. "I will see you at the castle." With that, the professor stepped away from Harry and vanished with another crack.

"How was that?" Harry asked no one as he started walking to the train.

"_Much better, since it wasn't fire. That has to have some basis in Gravity magic though, considering the compression sensation you felt_." Shiva said as she appeared, walking beside Harry. He had quickly given her indefinite permission to the bit of magic she needed to manifest to him. "_We'll need to find you some nice ice or water related teleportation magic."_

Harry shrugged, boarding the train. After the past few weeks staying in the Gryffindor tower, he was ready for a change. It was nice having a good bed, plenty of food, not being chased by Dudley… Harry stopped himself. No need to list it, it was nice. But it had been too quiet, with just the few teachers and books. Shiva had been the only thing keeping him from going nutty.

He missed by almost five minutes the gaggle of redheads entering through the wall that was the portal onto the platform.

* * *

Harry sat quietly in one of the compartments, idly waiting for the train to get moving as he people watched out the window.

"_I thought you were bored? Go find something to do, don't just wait here."_ Shiva made a shooing motion.

"You're bored too." Harry accused.

"_Why yes, yes I am. And as I am the Empress, it is your duty to entertain me."_ Shiva smiled.

"Anything to please the Empress." Harry laughed.

"Are you… ok?" Someone said, and Harry's head jerked up suddenly to the compartment entrance. A girl with fairly long brown hair that frizzed at the edges stood there, watching Harry warily.

Now Shiva laughed. "_That was good."_

Harry rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I'm ok." The train made a lurch, and Harry waved to the seats. "Looks like we're moving, have a seat."

Giving him one last look, the girl did so. Harry almost couldn't hold the laugh in as she sat through Shiva, though the smile he did have was enough to get a tenuous smile back from the girl.

_And that was great._ Harry thought as Shiva had to move.

"_Yes, hilarious."_ Shiva shook her head.

"I'm Hermione Granger." The girl introduced herself. "I just found out about magic and that I'm a witch. I've read all the books I could, and tried a couple of little spells. How about you?"

Harry blinked at the rapid fire information. "Huh, I was told no magic before we were sorted at the castle."

Hermione paled. "Oh no! Do you mean I broke a rule? I didn't see anything that said we couldn't try magic and I had my wand and I so badly wanted magic to be real. And now I'm going to get in trouble and they're going to take my wand away from me and…"

"I won't tell if you don't?" Harry interrupted, ignoring the polite laughing coming from Shiva.

"…Really?" Hermione stopped going through worse case scenarios to look at her possible savior.

Harry nodded. "You haven't gotten in trouble yet, right?" A nod. "Then you won't. When I do something wrong, I always get in trouble immediately."

Hermione hiccupped.

"_Seriously? This girl becomes this distraught over the thought of getting in trouble?"_

Harry shrugged again at Shiva's words.

"Maybe you're right. I'll just have to be careful and not break any more rules." Hermione said as she calmed down a bit. "Thank you, um…"

"Harry. Harry Potter." Harry introduced himself, wincing as Hermione's eyes went wide once more.

"Oh wow. Harry Potter, really?" Her eyes darted to Harry's forehead, where protected by the fringe of hair his scar was barely visible. "I've read all sorts of books about you, and that night. You survived a Killing Curse, and defeated the Dark Lord!"

Harry just groaned, closing his eyes. "Who didn't survive that night?"

"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

_I'd name him, if someone would give me his fricking name. _"And…?"

Hermione paused. "Oh… I'm sorry." Harry opened his eyes at her words. "I didn't think about it. All of the books pretty much gloss over that."

Harry said nothing, looking back out the window.

"_Well, there goes my entertainment."_ Shiva said, her voice quiet. _"You ok?"_

Harry opened his mouth to speak before closing it again, remembering Hermione. _Yeah, I guess. Those books are stupid though. I didn't realize the Dursleys were training me to be the next coming of Merlin._

"_Correct her then. Your legacy is what you make of it, do not let others make it for you." _Shiva told him. _"If you allow someone else to tell your story, they will not know your opinions on it. I'll let you speak with her alone."_ With that said, Shiva vanished from his sight, and her Materia seemed quiet.

Harry looked back at the girl. Shiva was right, though he really didn't like talking about his home. "Hermione?"

"?" She replied. Harry could see that she wasn't all that happy with herself.

"I've read at least one of those books you have, I assume. _Pre-Hogwarts, a Potter's Life_?" Hermione nodded. "I only read it last week. It's utterly wrong. I've only known about magic for around a month, since I got my Hogwarts letter."

Hermione frowned, trying to reconcile that with what she had read.

"It's fiction. My aunt and uncle hate magic and told me my parents died in a car crash. They were not happy at all with having to take care of me and let me know daily. I was not carefully raised with regards to magic use, and I do not have over a thousand spells already memorized and I cannot pass the seventh year exams, NEWTs I think they're called, at any time I choose." Harry smiled. "Interesting stuff though, I'd love to be able to do half of what that book said I could."

"Huh." Hermione looked shocked. "It didn't say it was fiction. It wasn't even in a different part of the bookstore separating it from the non fiction."

"I wouldn't know. Professor McGonagall got all my stuff for me." Harry told her.

"Why would a professor get your stuff for you? Isn't she the Deputy Headmistress? I thought I read that in _Hogwarts, A History_." Hermione quickly switched thoughts at that.

"Uh, would you believe it's a really weird story that I'd rather not talk about?" Harry asked. Not to mention the fact that according to the headmaster and Professor McGonagall, he wasn't supposed to talk about his armlet, either. And he agreed with that. After what he'd read had happened when he was a baby, he didn't want any more fame.

"Yes, I would believe that. Though I guess it's something about your aunt and uncle hating magic, like you said?" She asked.

"That's the beginning of it. So, what else did you read about in _Hogwarts, A History_?"

To Hermione, it was an obvious attempt to change the subject, but short of her plowing ahead with trying to get information from him, she couldn't keep asking him. And besides, he'd asked her about a book she'd read. She loved to talk about her books.

It was a fairly quiet time as Harry listened to Hermione talk about the book with him asking a few questions about it. After a bit of mental shouting to get her attention, Shiva heard him and started listening in as well. After about twenty minutes though, another head poked into the compartment. A round-faced boy with blond hair looked around for a moment.

"Umm, I've lost a toad. Did you maybe see if it was in here?" He asked.

Hermione shook her head. "No, just us. I can help you look though." She stood up, motioning to him. "What's your name?"

"Neville."

"Well Neville, let's get looking." Hermione said. "You want to help, Harry?"

Harry shrugged. "Beats boredom, I guess." He stood as well. "So, where else in the car have you checked?"

"This is the first place I looked." The other boy answered.

"You haven't searched the compartment you were in?" Hermione asked the obvious question.

Neville shook his head. "No, I checked my compartment, it's just in a different car."

"Wait." Harry looked at the boy. "Did you search your entire car?" Neville shook his head no. "Let's go look there then. It's open air between cars from what I saw, so if your toad escaped he's likely to have gotten knocked off the train. Plus, I doubt it could open a door."

Neville blushed. "I… didn't think of that."

The three left the compartment and Neville led them back to his car. There, they split up and began a search. Harry nudged Neville as they were looking. "Yeah, hope he didn't leave the car. We're going what, forty or fifty miles an hour? Even holding the railings the wind's kinda bad. Your toad would have been picked up and tossed easily."

"Yeah, I really, really hope that didn't happen." Neville gulped. "That was a gift from my Gran."

"Don't want to lose a gift. That I can completely understand." Harry nodded his understanding.

A few minutes later, Hermione came walking up with an older student, who was wearing his Hogwarts robes with a yellow trim. "Neville, what's the name of your toad?"

"Trevor, why?"

"_Accio_ Trevor the toad." The older student called, waving his wand.

There was a fairly loud croaking as the toad zoomed out of a compartment and landed in the student's hand. He then held it out to Neville who gladly took it.

"Thank you so much, sir!" Neville said, shoving the toad into a pocket. Harry and Hermione both looked askance at that, but as the older student didn't say anything about it they stayed quiet.

"Not a problem, and I'm Cedric not sir. Anything else I can help you all with?"

"No, thank you very much." Hermione said smiling.

Cedric nodded before returning to his own compartment.

"I figured one of the older students might know a magic to find him quicker. I didn't realize you could summon something like that though."

_Summon?_ Shiva's voice caught onto the word, having not really been paying attention to the conversation.

_Accio is apparently a summoning spell. But it made the toad fly from wherever it was to here. I don't think it's the same thing._ Harry answered her.

_That isn't like my summoning then, it is an incantation. I should not expect to run into another actual Summon like that, I would think. Phoenix surprised me enough. But a toad? Was it someone who had been hit with the Toad spell and they were trying to find them to reverse it?_ Shiva questioned.

_Uh, no. And you can actually turn someone into a Toad?_

_Yes. That, shrink people, turn them into Imps. There's a lot of fun battle magics that inflict interesting shapes and forms onto an enemy. Hitting someone with a Toad spell was usually a precursor to stomping them flat._

Harry felt a little queasy at that. _I don't think I want to stomp anyone like that._

_When it is a choice between your life or theirs, most people chose to live themselves._ Shiva retorted. _But that is something for another time. It is not like you will be going into combat tomorrow._

"Well, do you want to come back to our compartment, Neville? Yours was empty, so I guess you were the only one there." Hermione was asking.

"If you don't mind?" Neville asked.

"Nah. I don't bite. Do you, Hermione?" Harry asked, warming up to the idea of maybe having a couple of friends himself.

"My parents are dentists. They would be horrified if I bit someone. 'Think of what you are doing to your teeth, Hermione!'" she said, mimicking her parents. She then looked a little unsure at the other two.

Harry smiled widely and laughed. "I'd love to see that!"

Neville, however, just looked confused. "What's a dentist?"

"Scary people, Neville." Harry answered as he helped Nevile pull his stuff out of his compartment. "Scary people."

Hermione stomped her foot and yelled. "Harry Potter! My parents are not scary."

Neville froze, staring at Harry's forehead before going wide-eyed. Several of the compartment doors opened up as well, people looking out them. "Harry Potter?"

"Crap." Harry glared at Hermione, who looked abashed. "Grab your stuff Neville or not, I'm getting out of this car now."

Neville shook his head and grabbed the side of his trunk again. "Are you really…?"

"Yes, let's go." Harry gritted his teeth and practically drug Neville out of the car before the others coming out of their compartments could stop him.

Once out of the car and back in his original compartment, Harry fell into his seat with a sigh.

"Harry Potter helped me find my toad?" Neville still looked a bit shellshocked.

Harry looked at Neville. "Yes. Neville, all those books and stories about me? I haven't heard them all, but I doubt any of them are true based on the ones I have heard. I don't know tons of magic, I've only know of magic for a month. I don't like the fact that everyone thinks I'm great because my parents died and I didn't. Please, please, please don't bring it up."

"Oh, uh, alright?" Neville said after Harry had rushed through his explanation.

It was a stilted and sometimes broken conversation that continued between the three for the next hour or so, interrupted by a lady with a trolley cart selling treats. Harry bought a couple of small things to share, remembering they would be eating once they got there.

After a while, Harry sighed as he watched the compartment doors open once more. Stepping inside were three boys. The platinum blond in the middle looked over the room.

"So, rumor has it Harry Potter is on the train." His eyes flicked over the two boys, catching sight of Harry's scar. "So, I see it's true."

Harry groaned. "I'm going to grow my hair thicker, just to cover this stupid thing up."

"Potter, I am Draco Malfoy. This is Crabbe and Goyle. I came by to make sure you were around the right type of people." He sneered at Hermione and Neville. "I see I got here just in time. At least it isn't a Weasley, but a mudblood and a Longbottom? You could do so much better than that Potter. Come along."

Draco held out his hand to Harry, who looked at it. "You know, I'm fairly certain that insulting two people I've made friends with isn't the best way to make friends with me."

"Excuse me, Potter?" Draco looked shocked that his hand hadn't been taken. "I'll have you know, my family is among the upper crust of the Wizarding World. You're lucky I'm offering to make friends with you."

"I'll try my luck on my own then, Draco, you said?" Harry looked at the three still at the door. "I'm not going to be a toady for you, like those two are."

And then blinked, as the two quickly vanished, replaced by toads similar to Neville's. Harry felt the gem above his heart lose a bit of color and energy again, only to slowly start to darken once more.

_Once was an interesting happenstance, twice is ability. How in the world are you using spells at the Command level? Mortals do not have that level of magical power to just command it!_ Shiva's voice in his head was surprised and incredulous. _If you were using Ice magics, I could possibly see you filtering through my Materia, but this is not Ice!_

Harry felt Shiva's emotions, but his own were roiling too much to try to figure it out. Everyone in the room was staring at Harry.

"I…I…you…" Draco stuttered.

Harry dropped his head into his hands. "Grab your friends, Draco, and go find someone to reverse it. Or get one of the teachers to, once we get to the school. I don't know what I did, and I don't want to try to fix it."

Draco backed out of the compartment, the two toads following him. The door was shut quickly, though Hermione saw Draco scooping up the toads as it closed.

Both Hermione and Neville looked at Harry, who still had not looked up.

"Harry?" Hermione asked quietly. "Are you sure those books weren't right?" She gave a weak laugh.

Harry hiccupped, his voice breaking as he spoke into his hands. "What did I do?"

"_That is what I want to know."_ Shiva's voice said from across Harry as she reappeared to him. Harry did not look up at her either. _"But if you are using Command level spells, I will have to devise a way for you to lock it into yourself, so that you do not stumble across others and cause actual damage. Until I do so, I want you to very clearly speak what you want to say in your mind first, directly to me, and I will let you know if any Command words are buried in your speech. Emotive assignments to those words will cause this again._

"Alright, Shiva." Harry said out loud.

"Shiva?" Hermione and Neville both asked, but the rest of the train ride they would receive only silence from Harry.

* * *

The train pulled to a halt at a station unlike the one it had left from. Disembarking, Harry stayed quietly between Hermione and Neville, remembering what Professor McGonagall had told him. Looking around, he saw Hagrid walking towards the train. Pulling on both of their robes to get their attention, Harry walked over to Hagrid.

"Firs' Years, over 'ere. Firs' Years come ta me over 'ere!" Hagrid yelled and smiled when he saw Harry with two others.

"Good ride, 'Arry?" he asked.

Harry looked at his first friend and shook his head.

"What happened?"

"A couple of students were turned into toads, sir." Hermione answered respectfully, staring up and up at the man.

"Bah, there's always someone playing around on the train. Dontcha worry, 'Arry, they always get that fixed." Hagrid looked back at the train, booming once more. "Firs' Years, over 'ere."

_Yeah, but I bet it's not a First Year that does it usually._ Harry slumped into himself a bit more.

Hermione shook his shoulder, seeing this. "Come on, Harry." She pulled him after Hagrid, who was now leading the rest of the students towards the edge of the lake where a number of boats awaited them.

"A'right, no more than four ta a boat." Hagrid shouted as people began getting in. Hermione and Neville directed Harry into one of them and got in as well. It didn't look like anyone else was going to get in until at the last moment, Draco got in.

Before he could say anything though, Hagrid was again shouting. "A'right, I'm missing two Firs' Years. I gotta roll call 'ere somewhere, so call out so I can figure out who went on the carriage."

Draco looked at the big man. "It's Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle you're missing." He said quietly, putting both hands into his robes and pulling out the toads. He then motioned to Harry. "He did it, but even the couple of Seventh Years I got to try to reverse it couldn't. Almost got them thrown out of the train because they didn't believe they were people."

Harry stared at Draco, while everyone else stared at Harry.

_Fuck._

Hagrid shook himself. "Professor McGonagall or the Headmaster will fix it. Alright, since yer all here then, away we go."

The boats slipped away from the docks and everyone quickly went sailing across the lake. Most of the students though were quietly talking amongst themselves and shooting glances over at the boat containing Harry.

Draco himself was staring at Harry. "I don't know how you did that Potter, but for Seventh Years to not be able to fix it, that was well more than accidental magic." Draco shook Harry's shoulder and then hissed under his breath. "What did you _do_, Potter?"

It was Hermione who spoke up. "He hasn't said more than two words since you left the compartment."

"I wasn't asking you, mudblood." Draco sneered at the girl, before focusing back on Harry. "What was it? It was powerful magic, whatever you managed."

Harry looked up, and thought to Shiva for a moment. '_I don't know, and I'm sorry' is ok?_

_Yes._

"I don't know, and I'm sorry." Harry parroted his thought words.

"You don't know." Draco looked at him. "Do you think I'm stupid? Something like that requires more than just accidental magic, Potter. .?"

"I don't know." Harry repeated.

Draco scowled. "I'm going to wring every last bit of information from your head, Potter. Just you wait."

Draco then sat back, looking towards the castle. Everyone else ooh'd and ahh'd over the sight coming up to the docks there, and Hagrid jumped out to guide them up the steps.

As they entered the castle, Harry saw Professor McGonagall standing in the receiving hall. Hagrid nodded to her. "The Firs' Years, Professor. Though, there's a couple of 'em that need to be fixed. 'Arry apparently changed 'em over to toads and no one changed 'em back."

McGonagall, who had been about ready to dismiss Hagrid, paused and stared at the man before turning to Harry. "Excuse me?"

Draco stepped up, pulling the toads from his pockets. "Crabbe and Goyle, Professor. Seventh Years couldn't pull it off of them."

"Set them down, Mr. Malfoy, you don't want to hurt your arms when they return." McGonagall said, her wand at the ready.

Draco set them down and quickly stepped back. The toads didn't move at all.

"_Finite"_ McGonagall said, waving her wand over the two errant students, only to frown as nothing happened. "_Finite Incantatem._" She called with more power this time and the two toads popped, and two students stood in their place. They threw themselves at McGonagall, hugging her.

The Professor allowed this for a moment, before pushing them off of her. "Quite enough, you two." She then glared at Harry. "And I'm fairly certain you were told no magic."

Harry bowed his head. "I'm sorry."

"If it weren't for the fact that you're unsorted, you'd have a week of detention and house points taken. As it is, you are lucky." McGonagall looked up, seeing her audience of new First Years and now a few ghosts. "Watch them for me for a moment, I need to announce the First Years."

The ghosts nodded, turning to face the students, most of whom decided that being quiet was probably the best thing to do at the moment.

It was a minute later that McGonagall opened the door again and beckoned the children in.

Walking in, Harry was glad to see the room filled as the whole place looked a lot better with people in it, rather than the ten or so that had been there before now. The sky in the ceiling was interesting still, and Harry looked up at it and smiled. Hermione noticed then and spoke quietly. "It's enchanted to look like the outside. I read it in _Hogwarts, A History._"

Harry just nodded his thanks, still refusing to say much of anything. As it was, he could see a few people looking at him oddly from their seats and sighed to himself. Probably those people from the train that had heard Hermione shout his name.

McGonagall stood in front of them with a scroll, looking at them. Next to her was a stool with a hat sitting on it.

Harry found out he still was capable of being surprised, when the brim of the hat ripped open and it began to sing about the school.

As the song finished, Professor McGonagall looked over the First Years. "Now, when I call you name come up and put on the Sorting Hat. It will tell you what House you will be spending your next seven years representing."

Harry watched as the first few names were called, clapping politely with everyone else as they were Sorted. When "Granger, Hermione" was called he watched a little closer as the hat settled on her head. For several long moments it sat there, shifting on its own. Finally, the brim ripped once more with a yell of "RAVENCLAW!" and Hermione pulled it off her head and smiled at it, before setting it back down on the stool and going to the table with the blue banners. Harry clapped loudly for his friend.

"_Blue would be nice, instead of the red that reminds me of fire."_ Shiva said, appearing next to Harry once more. _"Though, I guess one of the Houses is much the same as the other."_

Harry shrugged. _Ravenclaw is the blue one, it's supposed to be for the really smart ones._

"_No, it's for those with a thirst for knowledge, not just the smart ones."_ Shiva corrected him.

Harry just nodded at the correction, watching as "Longbottom, Neville" was called up. The hat again sat there for a while, before finally giving its own call of "HUFFLEPUFF!" and Harry clapped with vigor once more.

Another name went by, before Professor McGonagall came to "Malfoy, Draco." Harry watched in amusement as the hat only sat on Draco's head for three entire seconds before coming up with "SLYTHERIN!" and Draco pulled the hat off his head quickly. Harry was slightly surprised when the blond scowled at it before stalking over to his table.

As the names drew down, Harry waited for his turn. When Professor McGonagall called "Potter, Harry" he wasn't surprised when all the people stared and him and started whispering to each other. _Stupid books, stupid expectations._ Harry said to himself.

_And somehow, they will expect you to live up to those expectations. Do you want to schedule your NEWTs now?_ Shiva laughed at him as Harry shoved the hat on his head.

_Ah, Mr. Potter, so nice to speak with you. Oh, what's this? A second mind sidling up beside your own? How do you do, Empress Shiva? _ A new voice echoed through Harry's mind.

Harry and Shiva both froze at that. Shiva vanished from the room, her own voice echoing through Harry's head. _Who are you?_

_The Sorting Hat, and I need to sort Mr. Potter into his House if you please._

Harry felt something like ice encrust over his head. _As the Headmaster of this school told Harry, magical items with their own brains are not to be trusted unless you know where those brains are and why._

The gem on Harry's arm seemed to drain of more color as Harry felt something happen.

Apparently, the Hat did as well. _Madam, I was created and tied solely to this school to support it. If you wish to destroy me, you'll be required to level most of the school itself as well. Are you prepared to do so?_

Dumbledore had almost come to his feet when he noticed the breath of everyone near the hat was fogging up. He could sense the magical build up of something, and feared the worst.

_Do you trust this, Harry? You are the Summoner, so I will follow your lead in this._ Shiva asked him.

Harry sighed. He realized he'd been doing a lot of that today already, but it wasn't a big surprise considering. _Yes, I guess. It didn't hurt anyone else._

The cold vanished, and the Headmaster relaxed once more, but watched the proceedings carefully, his eyes locked onto the arm of the boy under the Sorting Hat at the moment.

Harry felt some of the energy return to Shiva's Materia, but only about half of it. _Are you ok?_ He asked.

Harry somehow felt a nod. _I cannot fully undo a spell, so I lost some of the energy. More than I would have liked to have lost, but I will not let you come to harm._

_As interesting as this is, do I now have permission to Sort you, Mr. Potter?_

_Go ahead, I guess. _Harry conceded.

_Alright then, let's have a look at what is floating around in your head. Hmm, from what I remember in the Headmaster's office and your recollection, you are very loyal to those you consider friends, though that number is very few. Hagrid would be thrilled to learn you count him there. Hufflepuff would welcome you with open arms, and your friends would be many there._ The Hat murmured as it did its work. _The Throne of Ice? I've never heard of such a thing, but then again I've never heard of a Materia before either._

_Excuse me?_ Shiva's voice butted in once more. _You will be keeping anything learned in this manner a secret, correct?_

_I am required to let the Headmaster know about anything that I am not specifically asked to keep a secret, should he ask what we discussed._ The Hat replied.

_Anything and everything about Shiva, I am asking you to keep between you, myself and Shiva._ Harry quickly said mentally.

_I shall. And that will lock up this entire conversation, I think. But if I may continue. You would make a great Ravenclaw, as the search for such esoteric lore would no doubt set that group aflame._

_No fire._ Shiva added sardonically.

_Yes. And such to enact such a search, Ravenclaw would help you the most. Such an ambition would be worthy of Salazar's house, and the courage to find such a place would have Gryffindor himself standing at your side. I am pleased to say you well embody all of the four Houses, Mr. Potter, but alas I must Sort you to but one._

There was a slight pause as the Hat thought it over. _How badly do you want to find this Throne of Ice for Shiva, Mr. Potter? What would you give up?_

_Whatever I had to._ Harry replied, thinking on what the Empress of Ice and Snow had said. _I am her only link to not going dormant again, and she cannot regain magic until she is back there once more. If I knew where it was and could survive getting her there now, I'd leave the school right now._

_Harry…_ Shiva's voice was shocked and touched.

_Very well, Mr. Potter. I wish you luck on your ambition. I had better sort you to…_

Harry had sat under the hat for a good five minutes, longer than any other student had during the sorting. In fact, Professor McGonagall was getting fairly worried, along with the rest of the staff and students.

So it was a relief when the Sorting Hat split open once more, and it might have been a trick of the light but it seemed to have a smile on its face.

One word came out.

"RAVENCLAW!"

* * *

So, who saw that coming? Let me know how you feel, read and review.


	4. When is a raven like a writing desk?

A/N: This will be the last daily chapter, as I've got stuff to actually do this week. However, like usual you guys are great. This is now on more Story alerts than any of my other stories, and with only four chapters now.

Now, on with the chapter!

* * *

_Your ambition is not for yourself, Mr. Potter, so you would not fit in well with the current Slytherins._ The Sorting Hat's voice said as Harry pulled the hat from his head. Standing, he looked around for a moment as he was stared at, before the clapping began.

Shimmering into view once more, Shiva looked around as well. "_I notice the Slytherin group does not clap for you."_

_Which just makes the Sorting Hat's comments correct._ Harry replied, walking over to the Ravenclaw table. As he sat down next to Hermione, the fringe of his robes took on a blue tone and the blank crest on his robes shifted as well.

"Welcome to Ravenclaw, Harry." An older student across the table nodded to him. Murmurs of the same echoed from the nearby students.

"I had actually figured you for Gryffindor, Harry." Hermione said, smiling. "But I'm most certainly happy you're here."

"Already got a girlfriend, Harry?" One of the older boys said with a smile himself. "I'm Roger, by the way."

Harry blushed. "No. I just met Hermione on the train. We're friends." Hermione nodded quickly, her own blush showing.

_Watch your words, Harry. You did not check them first._ Shiva reminded him.

"Methinks he dost protest too much." One of the other first years said. Harry thought he was Anthony something.

Harry just shook his head and clapped when he saw "Turpin, Lisa" joined their table. There were only a few more people and Harry watched without really listening as they were sorted, "Zabini, Blaise" being the last to go to Slytherin.

As the last was seated, Dumbledore stood. "I have a few announcements to make, but those shall wait until after the meal. For the moment, I will just say a few words. Nitwit, Oddment, Blubber, Tweak." With that, Dumbledore waved an empty hand and the tables filled with food.

Harry, however, noticed several of his housemates were writing down what the Headmaster had said. At his curious look, one girl explained. "Every year, Professor Dumbledore says something like that. We're trying to figure out if there's a purpose behind it." A cough came from Roger. "Besides just driving some of us nutty figuring it out."

Harry looked at the Headmaster again, thinking over what he'd said and then ran the thought by Shiva. "Anyone figure it out before?"

"Once, about fifteen years ago." Roger told him.

"Huh." Harry nodded, before filling his plate with food. He was pretty hungry, after all. After getting his plate, he looked up at the teacher's table. Professor McGonagall wasn't paying any attention to the student tables and instead was talking with another female teacher. Another with professor, this guy with long black hair was giving him a confused glare as Harry met his eyes. He was pulled away though by Professor Quirrell. Harry winced as his forehead seemed to burn for a moment.

"You ok, Harry?" Hermione noticed the action.

Harry nodded slowly, the pain fading. "Yeah." He said slowly.

_Ifrit's fire?_ Shiva's voice asked.

_Huh?_

_Nothing, do not worry about it._

The Ravenclaw table was fairly quiet after that, people chatting amongst themselves, some of them trying to work out the possible code the Headmaster had said. Harry just smiled, happy that he wasn't being overwhelmed with 'Boy-Who-Lived' stuff like what had happened at the Leaky Cauldron.

Sadly, it wasn't meant to last. Hermione poked him in the side, showing him a notebook she'd pulled from her robes, showing him the words. "So? What do you think they mean?"

Harry tried to raise an eyebrow at her like he'd seen on the telly. Hermione giggled at the effect before Harry stopped and looked at it, thinking on the words for a moment. "Nitwit is an idiot. Oddment is a scrap of something. Blubber can be fat, or to cry. Tweak is twisting something. I don't see anything that connects them."

"Well, it wouldn't be that easy, Harry. Not if it's only been figured out once." Hermione argued, trying to draw him into it.

"Then I wouldn't expect to figure it out tonight either. Especially since we don't know anything about the whole picture."

Hermione paused, looking at him. "Huh?"

Harry sighed. Long explanations were going to suck, having to check the sentences for whatever Command magics was first. "I've only ever gotten to do one puzzle ever, and it was one of those big thousand piece ones. I couldn't do anything with at all, because I had to sneak the bag of pieces from my cousin." Harry explained, trying not to go into detail as to why he had to sneak it away. "But I didn't get the box or anything with the picture of what it was. So the best I could do was the edge parts because I could at least line them up that way. But the inside part?" Harry shook his head. "I didn't know what it was supposed to look like. I spent hours and hours trying to piece every part together."

Hermione nodded, and a couple of the other first years did as well. "So if you don't know what you're looking at, you can't really put it together. I see where you're coming from." She paused. "Doesn't mean you have to give up on it though. You can just keep trying until something fits."

"True." Harry said. _Only you have to when you're caught with the puzzle and Uncle Vernon punishes you for stealing Dudley's toys._

_Yes…_ Shiva's voice was not amused as Harry's mind flashed back to that particular punishment.

As the meal finished up, including the desserts, Dumbledore stood once more. "And now, I have a few announcements to make. As you all should know, the Forbidden Forest is named such for a reason, and no students are to be caught in its borders." The Headmaster shot a look over to the Gryffindor table. "Additionally, there is to be no magic in the halls between classes. The banned list of objects has increased by eight, the full list may be seen attached to Mr. Filch's door." Dumbledore nodded to a sour looking man that was standing at one of the entrances to the hall. "And finally, the third floor has been sealed off to those of you not looking for a quick, painful death."

_Now that is interesting. _Shiva sounded curious. _You weren't told that while you were here earlier._

_Not interested in dying though._ Harry added.

A snort inside your head by someone else was a unique experience. _At worst, you summon me. If we get bored enough, we can go poking around._

_I'm not wasting your magic on boredom, Shiva._ Harry protested. He received a mental smile for that comment.

The older students stood up after Dumbledore finished his speech, and the short Professor walked up to the students as well. Harry quickly scrambled to his feet as well, having been sidetracked by his conversation with Shiva.

The small Professor nodded to the group of First Years. "I am Professor Flitwick, Head of Ravenclaw. I am also the Charms professor. Now, there is a Ravenclaw tradition that the First Years must adhere to, so follow me please."

Harry walked along with his new housemates, followed by the older students. Professor Flitwick led them westwards until they got to a winding staircase that only two people could walk up at once. Flitwick easily walked up it, a large gaggle of students following. Once he reached the top, his wand came out and seemed to push the walls to the side, creating a much wider place for the First Years to stop at, with the older housemates behind them.

"Welcome to Ravenclaw tower. To enter, you must solve the doorman's riddle." Flitwick said, before pointing to the bronze eagle knocker. It's beak opened up and questioned.

"Wear me in any kind of weather

Shine the Sun on me

And I'm gone forever.

Salt me and I disappear."

_That's easy._ Shiva laughed. _Can you guess before your housemates, Harry?_

Harry thought for a moment. Easy? Sun and salt get rid of it… Oh. "Ice." Harry felt his gem lose a bit of color, but nothing happened. _Good, no emotive context in that, so the Command level of the magic did not release. That, and calling for Ice is in my domain, which I can dampen somewhat since I am here._

"Ice!" Hermione called at the same time.

"Welcome to the tower." The knocker said, before the door it was attached to opened. Flitwick smiled at the both of them. "Very good. He'll have a different riddle for you, every time you enter the tower."

As the students entered the common room, Harry was impressed with the different feel of it. Blue and bronze silk hangings were on the wall, touching the edges of the domed ceiling. Both ceiling and floor were decorated with stars and the room itself was open.

"_I can just feel the air play through this room, Harry. Ravens indeed."_ Shiva had a smile on her face as she appeared once more, near a bookcase away from the group.

Flitwick turned and pointed to a marble statue on the other side of the room next to a door. "That is Lady Rowena Ravenclaw, the Founder of our House." He rubbed his hands together and then produced a lightly glowing blue ball from somewhere. "Now, tradition time." He tossed the ball to Hermione who looked at it oddly. "When you have the ball, I want you to say your name and tell us something about your life that the rest of us do not know. Remember the number on the ball. Once you have done so, toss the ball to someone else. The last person is to give me the ball back."

Hermione shrugged and looked at her number, a one. "Hermione Granger, and both of my parents have Doctorates in Dentistry." She then tossed the ball to one of the boys.

"Terry Boot. I'm Muggleborn." Looking around, Terry smiled and tossed it to Harry.

"Harry Potter." He paused. There was plenty of things he could say here, but a lot of it wasn't all that good. "I spent the last three and a half weeks staying in Gryffindor Tower." Noting his number, a two, Harry looked at the First Years, tossing it a darker skinned girl.

"Padma Patil. My family and I follow the Hindu religion." She looked down as well, tossing the ball to another student.

Finally, all the students had said something about themselves and the ball was back in Flitwick's hands. "Now, each of you pair up based on the number you have. There are two of each number."

There was some quick shuffling before people quickly figured out the pattern. Hermione and Terry stood next to each other, and Harry had paired off with Padma.

"Now, you have one week to research the comment made by your partner. This time next week, I want you to be able to spend five minutes telling me about your partner, with regards to their comment. You may do the research however you want, except asking your partner."

Flitwick smiled as his First Years looked a little daunted. Some people had given very odd information that would be hard to look into.

Harry held in a groan. "Sorry." He whispered to Padma.

"Easy is not fun." She answered him back.

Flitwick continued. "Now, as I realize that this is not classwork you cannot actually be graded on this. I will, however, help you with a single Charm for you room if you manage." There were confused looks. "And that is the last part of the Ravenclaw tradition. If you'll follow me to the dorms."

The diminutive professor quickly walked through the door beside the statue of Rowena, leading the First Years up. "The Seventh Year students last year were on the fourth floor, now that they have graduated, those shall be your rooms. Your rooms will not change between years."

Reaching the fourth floor of the dorms, Flitwick walked down the hall with doors on either side. "Now, while both males and females will be in the same hallway, the doors themselves are charmed to not allow a member of the opposite sex into the room. Additionally, there are charms for full blurring that keep anyone from being able to see through an open door in either direction."

Flitwick waved to the doors. "Go ahead and look at your rooms."

Harry quickly found the door with his name on it and opened it. Opulent didn't even begin to describe what he saw beyond there. Stepping in, he was shocked to find the room actually looked more like three or four rooms each furnished with rich, heavy tapestries and paintings. A huge desk was set up in one corner, and a window opened up onto the same view that the common room had. A king sized bed was set up with dozens of pillows on it. It was too big though, Harry thought, it went further than the doors to either side of his room.

From the low whistles and startled exclamations, the other rooms were apparently the same.

"Now, if you'll step back out here for a moment." Flitwick called, and Harry stepped out of the room. The others did so as well, and most looked reluctant to leave. Once everyone had stepped out, Flitwick spun his wand and the doors slammed shut. "Now, if you'll look at them once more."

Harry opened the door again, only to find a single room with no furnishings and no window. A full sized bed in Ravenclaw colors was there. A small desk with a chair was the only other furniture.

"Hey, what happened?" Harry heard several people ask.

"Tradition." Flitwick answered. "The dorm rooms are changeable. Anything you learn and research can be applied to your room. Expansion charms to create additional room, semi-permanent conjurations and transfigurations to create things. NEWT level runes to tie into the windows of the common room to give yourself a window. These are your rooms for the next seven years, make them your own."

Twelve pairs of eyes turned to look at their rooms, as even Harry felt the draw of designing and building a room all of his own.

Flitwick smiled at the ideas that were likely going through his new students' heads. "If you're done plotting?" He asked, and the First Years turned back to him. "I will pass out your class schedules in the morning before breakfast. Please don't leave the tower without your schedule.

Harry nodded, entering his room. He saw the trunk that he'd gotten with Professor McGonagall sitting against the bed and opened it up. Pulling out a sheet of parchment and quill, Harry set it on the small desk.

With a number of splotches, Harry wrote out on the top "Hindu religion."

"_Now you are a seeker of knowledge, with a prize on the line." _Shiva said to him. "_But while you think on that, I am going to go over the different Command words for magic with you, as I know it. Once you have them memorized, you can avoid them and not check with me on every word you wish to say. I'm still not certain if you are filtering through my Materia for the ability though, and I do not wish to have you test the higher levels of it to see if you mimic my affinity."_

_Affinity?_

"_Yes, as the Empress of Ice and Snow, I can do just about anything I wish with Ice and other freezing magics. Fire is anathema to me however, and I can barely Command the first levels of that magic and it costs me more than the strongest of the Ice I know."_

* * *

The next morning found Harry awake early and in the bathroom, trying to scrub off all the ink on his fingers and face.

Michael Corner was there as well, laughing. "What'd you do, fall asleep in your inkpot?"

Harry scowled, tossing a handful of inky water at him which Michael didn't quite dodge.

"Fine, I see how it is." Michael laughed again. "I'm right." He wrung out his robe. "You'll learn quick enough to keep the inkpot further away. I do it occasionally."

Harry just grumbled, finally getting the last of the ink out.

Down in the common room, Harry grinned at the view out the windows to the mountains, before looking around the rest of the room.

Hermione was sitting in a chair, paper out and an inkpot balancing on one chair arm. She seemed to be worrying the end of a quill over something. Since it was their first day, Harry had to guess it was over their assignment.

Looking further, he noticed that it was mainly just the First Years, as the older students weren't waiting for their Head of House for their schedules.

Padma was at a table, and upon noticing Harry watching her, she smiled slightly back to him.

There were a few older students though, and one of them was actually sitting on a table talking to a couple of his yearmates. Harry walked over to hear her as well. "Giving you your schedule is something Professor Flitwick likes to do, but I'm a fourth year and the first year schedules haven't changed since I started. I know a couple of shortcuts that'll help you out getting from here to the first classes of the day."

Before she could continue though, the door to the common room opened and Professor Flitwick walked in, a thundercloud seemingly formed over him as he looked angry. He looked at the fourth year. "Miss Clearwater. I understand you'd volunteered to guide the First Years, but it appears we've had a schedule change." A flick of his wand and the papers in his other hand flew out, going to each of the First Years.

He offered the additional sheet to the girl. "Can you show them to their first classroom from here before taking them to breakfast?"

She looked the sheet over, frowning. "This looks like the Gryffindor schedule, except where there would be combined Ravenclaw/Gryffindor class it's still there."

"Doesn't it, though?" Flitwick asked, calming down a bit and then sighing. "Do you think you can handle it?"

She nodded. "It's not horrible I guess." She looked up at the First Years in the room, who looked at their own schedules for a moment. "Double Potions for your first class is a bit hectic though, with the Slytherins." She grimaced at the thought. "On other hand, it might be a bit tricky. I suggest everyone go grab their Potions text and finish the first three chapters, if you haven't already."

The room mostly emptied for a moment as First Years scrambled back to their rooms for the appropriate books.

"Alright, let me show you the way there, and then we'll get breakfast. Double Potions is three hours after breakfast, so at least you won't be losing it due to fumes." Their guide laughed a bit.

Harry quick claimed a seat next to Hermione as they got set up for the Potions class. His textbook was out and he'd finished reading through the first chapters just a bit ago.

When Professor Snape swept into the room, what little chatter had been going on stopped. He seemed to glide up to the front of the room and looked over the students, his eyes picking them apart.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potionmaking," he began. His words forced the students to pay attention, as he spoke in hardly more than a whisper. Any talking would have made them unable to hear him.

"As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even put a stopper in death."

He then glared at the students. "If, you aren't the dunderheads I normally have to deal with."

His eyes landed on Harry. "Ah, Mr. Potter. Our newest… celebrity."

It was only for the fact that Harry knew it would be worse that he didn't groan and hide his face in his hands.

"Mr. Potter. What do you get if you added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" The question was almost a shot, and Harry's mind went blank for a moment as three-quarters of the Ravenclaws in the room raised their hand.

_You just read this, Harry._

It clicked. "The Draught of Living Death, sir." Harry answered quietly.

"And where would I find a bezoar?" Snape challenged once more. The Ravenclaws put their hands down, watching their housemate.

_Sidebar in the second chapter, Harry._

"The stomach of a goat."

Snape nodded. "And the difference between wolfsbane and monkshood?"

_I know this one._ Harry thought, before Shiva could remind him. "They are the same plant, Professor."

"Almost adequate, Potter. It is also known as aconite. For a Ravenclaw, you do not seem to know all of your facts." Snape's eyes seemed to laugh at Harry, who just ducked his head.

"Why aren't you all taking notes?" Snape scowled at the Ravenclaws, ignoring the Slytherins. He then waved a hand to the chalkboard, which spun around revealing writing. "Now, follow the directions. We're making a simple enough potion that even dunderheads such as yourselves shouldn't fail."

Looking at the directions, Harry went over to the potions cabinet and started grabbing the required items.

As he and Hermione began working, Professor Snape began walking around, watching everyone closely, not saying anything. As he walked towards where Harry and Hermione were working, he stopped. "Come, come, Mr. Potter. I expected you to be nearly done by now."

He looked at the potion. "And such an off color as well. I do believe that Miss Granger here is barely keeping your work from being nothing more than goop. It does not speak well for your own skills."

Harry tried to tune him out as they continued working. Finally though, the potion was completed with a few minutes before the end of class.

"Bottle a sample and bring it up here." Snape called, motioning to a rack of tube holders.

"I'll do it." Hermione said, stopping Harry from collecting it as she scooped a portion of the potion up. She brought it up and Harry noticed a slight frown on Professor Snape's face as Hermione turned in the potion.

"_He does not approve of you."_ Shiva said from where she had been watching him as well.

_Yeah. Glad Penelope gave us warning to read the book._ Harry replied.

The Ice Empress shook her head. _No, if you will recall, she suggested to finish reading the first few chapters. Ergo, she assumed you would have already begun. You will have to stay ahead of your reading._

Harry nodded as Hermione returned. _And that project for Professor Flitwick. I think I'd better go to the library and get started. Besides, I want a window in my room._

__Shiva laughed.

* * *

So, we come again to the end. Read and review, please._  
_


	5. When the raven is a freak

A/N: This one is short, but poignant. It more or less wrote itself, and I'm already working on chapter 6, I promise. I won't leave you hanging too long.

**Alert:** This chapter has Harry pulling an emo. It gets fixed next chapter, don't panic. Harry needs a clean break to get him where I want him to be.

* * *

Harry, true to his new Ravenclaw roots, was in the library. In his hand was a couple of sheets of parchment with messy handwriting on it. The librarian, Madam Pince, had directed him in this direction for books on religion, but as he went through them he wasn't find much for Hindu. Lots of Christianity and Islam, as apparently there had been wizards in the Crusades, but nothing on Padma's religion.

Sighing, Harry shelved another book before turning back. Already he'd been in here for two hours after dinner.

"You think I'd have at least gotten some sort of start." Harry groused.

"_What was it the girl said? 'It is no fun if it is easy'?" _Shiva said from one of the tables where she watched.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, but dead ends aren't fun. I've been through three entire bookcases. You think there'd be at least one book on the Hindu religion." He looked over at the table, where Shiva was sitting on it, looking around and watching other students.

"I've still got six days, so I can pick this up again tomorrow. I need to read the transfiguration text before class tomorrow." Harry mentioned.

"Who are you talking to, Harry?" Hermione's voice came up behind him, and he jumped.

Turning around, Harry looked at the girl nervously. "Uh, nobody?"

Hermione stood there, a couple of books in her arms as she looked at him curiously, looking around herself. "I didn't mean to listen to you, but it did sound like you were talking to someone. Though I didn't hear them."

"If you didn't hear them, then who could I have been talking to?" Harry asked. _Please buy it, please buy it._

Hermione nodded slowly. "Alright."

Harry nearly jumped as Shiva walked over to Hermione, before grinning at Harry. She stuck her arm through Hermione.

The bushy haired Ravenclaw did jump, however, and squealed. "Ah! What was that?" She spun around, not seeing Shiva pulling her arm back in confusion.

"_Well now, that is interesting. Excuse me while I test this."_ Shiva grinned at Harry as she walked over to another student. Harry nearly went cross-eyed, trying to watch her and Hermione at the same time.

"Harry?" Hermione asked.

Harry's shoulders drooped as he shook his head. "I can't believe this."

"What? What?" Hermione asked.

One of the older students, in Gryffindor red, yelled as Shiva stuck her hand through his back. Madam Pince came running over, scolding him for the noise.

Harry almost sighed in relief as Shiva disappeared after that. He looked at Hermione fully. "Um, I don't know?"

_Well, I do. It was a touch of my cold, tied to the magic of yours that I borrow to take form to your eyes. Remember, Olivander was measuring it, so it is apparently does have some form. Think of it like someone dropping ice down your shirt, but it cost me the magic you spent to give me shape._

"Harry Potter." Hermione hissed under her breath at him. "You know what that was. Did you do something, like on the train with Crabbe and Goyle?"

Harry shook his head. "No, I didn't do it, I promise."

_Ah, but you could consider you did. It was your magic, after all._

"You did it." Harry hissed, forgetting to think it to himself. Shiva laughed delightedly in his mind. _Fine, I did it with your magic. But I was as surprised as you were with the first one, and hoped that it might have meant a returning of my magic, somehow._

Hermione looked affronted. "I did not."

Harry dropped into one of the library chairs, holding his head. "I didn't mean you, Hermione." He then looked up at her, cursing himself. _Alright, I can see that as important. Still, let me know next time._

"Well then, who? There isn't anyone else close enough to hear you blame them, I don't think." She looked around herself once more.

He thought for a moment, before shrugging to Hermione. "No body I saw."

_Ooh, now that is a play on words, Harry._

"Harry…"

"I didn't see any body." Harry insisted.

"Fine, be that way." Hermione huffed. "I was going to give you some help with Professor Flitwick's project."

Harry paused, and then shook his head. "It's only the first day, Hermione. Besides, I want to at least try it myself."

"Oh? Alright." She looked at him. "You're going to tell me who it was eventually though."

She stuck her tongue out at Harry, before walking off.

_That didn't go too well._ Harry thought.

* * *

It was the next day, and Harry was sitting in Professor McGonagall's Transifiguration class, staring at a couple of toothpicks. The professor had just finished up her lecture about safety in transfiguration and the requirements for what she wanted them to do.

Hermione sat next to him, and as it was a Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff combined class, Neville had managed to sit on his other side.

Hermione was already working, trying to turn the toothpicks into needles. Harry glanced at her toothpicks. Was one end of that one a little thicker already?

Even Neville was trying, though his didn't look any different yet.

Harry, on the other hand, was just staring at his. He held in his hand an eleven inch piece of holly, that Mr. Olivander had said might have once worked to him, before he'd gotten the armlet. So instead, Harry held the unhelpful wand and poked at the toothpicks.

"Really, Harry." Hermione said, looking up. "You sounded more enthuisastic this morning." She poked her toothpick again and Harry looked at it. Yep, silvery looking. "How about you, Neville?"

Neville looked at the girl, shaking his head. "Not really, no."

"Don't worry, you'll get it." Hermione smiled at him, and Neville blinked, smiling back.

_The wand is not going to work, is it?_ Shiva asked. She'd not taken form again since yesterday's mishap in the library, as she had seemed worried about causing issues with freezing others.

_No, doesn't look it._ Harry thought back to her, sadly poking the toothpick again. Looking up, he saw Professor McGonagall talking with another student. "Professor?" He asked.

She looked up at Harry, and nodded. "One moment, Mr. Potter."

Harry nodded back, and went back to poking the toothpicks again.

After a few minutes, the professor walked over to the three of them. "What seems to be the problem, Mr. Potter."

Harry looked up at her, holding the wand.

She looked at it for a moment, and then looked at Harry. "Didn't Olivander measure you out with your left hand, Mr. Potter?"

"Oh, you're left handed, Harry?" Neville asked.

Hermione shook her head at Neville. "He's been writing right handed for the past couple of days."

Harry switched the wand to his other hand, not quite understanding McGonagall's inability to understand the real problem. He jabbed the wand at the toothpicks again, calling out the spell she'd coached them on. As expected, nothing happened.

"Just keep trying, Mr. Potter." She started to move away.

"Professor McGonagall, did the Headmaster mention why I was in the castle early?" Harry's question stopped her.

Hermione looked at him, curious as well. While it wasn't her question to answer, Padma might be interested in it. She knew the other girl hadn't made any headway.

"Your Uncle's refusal to take you back into his house when I tried to return you gave me enough of a picture." She sniffed. "Really, they are the worst sort of Muggles. I am sorry you had to grow up there." She then walked to another student who had a question for her.

Harry sighed and looked around, seeing the rest of the class had been paying attention. Looked like Padma had at least part of her answer and she was writing it down. He hated that Professor McGonagall had actually went into that in the middle of class.

But did she not know about his armlet? That could be the only answer.

_But why? Does the Headmaster not trust his deputy? I would think he would let the teachers know though, because you appear unable to use a wand. Olivander told him so himself._

Harry shook his head, and then laid it on the desk. _Is he punishing me? Does he want me to tell everyone that I'm wearing the damned thing? I don't want to stand out anymore than I already do, Shiva!_

The air shimmered, and Shiva appeared. The Ice Empress put her arm around his shoulder, carefully not touching anyone else. "_I do not think he is punishing you, but he does appear to be an old fool. You should have been shown how to cast, to make it appear as if it were coming from the wand. The armlet is worth a fortune, even those goblins agree. To expose it, would put you at risk of theft and harm."_

Harry bit his lip, holding back a shudder. Not at his friend's touch, but at the ache in his chest as he held back a sob. _I have to tell though. I'll never use the wand, and if I don't get some instruction I will never learn._

Shiva's arm quickly sunk through his body and Harry felt a cold jolt. And then a hand was on his shoulder. "Harry?" Hermione asked. "Are you ok? It's not a problem if you can't get the spell the first try." Her voice was quiet.

Harry didn't notice the spectacle he was making of himself as he held back another shudder. He was a freak at the Dursleys, and now he was going to be a freak here as well.

"_It is ok, Harry. You are not a freak." _Shiva's voice was kind, but hard.

"Yes I am. I'm a freak." Harry whispered.

"What?" Both Hermione and Neville's voices were near shouted, and laced with shock.

Harry sat back up, taking several deep breaths to try to calm himself down. Even if he was a freak, he still had magic. He could still learn, he just had to get them to understand his problem. "Pro..Professor McGonagall?" Harry called, his voice hitching.

The professor looked up once more, her eyes softening at Harry's look.

_No, don't look at me like that. I don't want pity, I want to be normal with someone!_ Harry threw his wand to the side, and McGonagall's eyes lost their softness, being replaced with an unworded question.

"_You will never be a freak, Harry. I am here for you."_ Shiva said.

Harry gathered what little courage he had from that. "I'll never be able to use that wand. I had hoped the Headmaster had told you why. I didn't want to be a freak to everyone else."

"Excuse me, Mr. Potter?" the professor looked at him.

"I can't use a wand." Harry shuddered, a sob barely being kept in check this time. "I'll, I'll never be able to use a wand. They can't .choose me, the entire shop couldn't at once, Mr. Olivander said."

The professor had gotten closer to Harry, looking at him with curious eyes. "And why is that, Mr. Potter?" Her voice was now very even and remote. Even the little warmth she'd shown the whole class earlier was gone.

And the whole class watched the saga.

Harry shoved the arm of his robe up, also pulling the longer sleeved shirt he wore underneath it up as well. It would probably be the last new thing that the freak would be allowed to have.

"_You are NOT a freak, Harry!" _Shiva's inaudiable to the class voice yelled at him now.

Professor McGonagall recoiled even before he could show her the armlet, and Harry knew that meant something was wrong with him. "I know now why it's called Potter's Folly, Professor. Because only a freak could wear it."

The silvery mithril armlet was now visible to the teacher, who gasped and couldn't find words. Several of the other students in the class were making gasping noises as well, those who were from pureblooded families that knew the story of the Folly.

Harry dropped the sleeve back down. "I understand that freaks shouldn't mingle with normal people, Professor. I had hoped that I could be normal here and not a freak, but I'm a freak regardless just like Uncle Vernon said. I'm sorry, I'll leave the class alone."

Harry got up and left the classroom, books and wand lying left behind. Professor McGonagall tried to find something to say, but by the time she could, Harry was already out of the room.

She ran to the door. "Mr. Potter! Harry! You will return to this classroom this instant!"

But somehow, the Boy-Who-Lived had already gotten out of sight, and as a Professor she could not leave the class by themselves…

With an almost vicious twisting of her wand, smoke appeared with the time on it. "Close enough." She whirled on the remaining students. "Class dismissed. If I hear a word about any of this from anyone in the castle, I will have this entire class in detentions until the Winter Break, do I make myself clear?" She nearly thundered at them.

Nearly two dozen heads bobbed up and down quickly, fear in their eyes. "Good. Now, out. I have a student to find."

* * *

A/N2: So, um read and review? And don't kill me?


	6. Normal is

A/N: Consider this part 2 of the previous chapter. Told you I wasn't going to let you all hang.

Couple of review responses for my anons real quick though.

'too lazy to log in' and 'kalin': Harry found out he was a wizard. While yes, the armlet made him different, he didn't really realize that. He also wasn't around other students until he got to 9 and three quarters and realized that everyone used wands. If he'd been able to do magic normally, he would have felt bad about hiding the armlet, but not so much that he would have lost it like he did. However, he couldn't do magic and felt singled out because it appeared to him like no one cared about his problem. Answers coming forth in this.

* * *

Harry ran, sobs no longer suppressed as he darted through the halls of Hogwarts. He barely felt the cold hand of Shiva as she guided his wild running.

Quickly enough though, Harry found himself at the huge doors leading out of Hogwarts, where he had stood just days before, hoping to finally fit in.

"_Go outside Harry, I need you to summon me please."_ Shiva requested of him.

Harry just threw the door open and ran outside.

His feet quickly took him to the lake's edge while his mind continued roiling.

_I'll NEVER be normal_. He choked out, running beside the lake away from the castle.

"_Harry" _Shiva called to him.

Harry didn't hear her. _I'm a freak to the normal people. I'm a freak to the magical people._

"HARRY!" Shiva's voice screamed across his mind. Harry jerked and stumbled, falling to his hands and knees.

Shiva was kneeling next to him. _"Summon me, please? I want to actually speak with you."_

Harry nodded from where he kneeled. Pushing almost all the color and energy from the gem over his heart down the thread to Shiva's, Harry spoke quietly, his voice hissing out.

_[Empress of Ice and Snow, I offer magic to form your body to summon you forth at your beckoning.]_

As Shiva faded from next to him and ice crystals again shattered to form the portal to her, Harry didn't even look up.

A blanket draped itself around him and Harry saw the blue fringes of it. Looking up a bit, he saw Shiva sit beside him as she guided him into sitting as well. Harry briefly wondered where the blanket came from, before deciding it didn't matter.

Shiva spoke. "You are not a freak, Harry." He didn't answer, so she continued. "You are actually a smart young man who rescued me from likely being dormant forever."

"Yeah, it only took a freak to free you." Harry looked down. And then felt a light tap on the back of his head, as Shiva tapped him slightly.

"No. It just means you are special. I put the armlet on you, Harry." Her fingers touched the metal through his robes. "I can unlatch it again. If I do so, you could go pick that wand up and use it."

"What'll happen to you?" Harry asked quietly.

The blue woman did not speak for a long moment. "You gave an enormous amount of energy to the summoning. Until it wears out, I will not return to the Materia and dormancy." She answered finally. "But though I may have a heart of ice, it does not mean I do not care about you. I and the armlet caused you this pain, and it is within my power to remove it."

Shiva shifted, looking at him. "Do you want me to remove it." She gave him a smile, one that was half forced onto her face. "I know you're smart enough to learn to cast with the wand. Maybe you might put the armlet back on afterwards?"

Harry shook his head and Shiva bowed her own. "I understand."

Harry's head shot up. "No, I'm not taking the armlet off." He looked at her. "I said I'd help you. I told the sorting hat that I'd give up whatever it took."

"You're not giving up anything, Mr. Potter." Professor McGonagall's voice said as she walked up. The Headmaster was with her.

Shiva moved, and then was in front of the Headmaster. "Why, exactly, did you not bother telling the other teachers that Harry could not use a wand?" Frost crawled along the grass as she questioned him.

"Because Olivander said he had levitated half his shop while wearing that armlet. I had expected he already knew how to focus through the armlet. In fact, I expected his issue would be overpowering spells, not in attempting any at all. The transfiguration of his yearmates into toads seemed to confirm that for me." Dumbledore said, standing fast. The air above him burst into flame, as the phoenix appeared. It landed on his shoulder, watching Shiva carefully. "I do realize it was my mistake, but you can see where it came from."

Shiva calmed slightly. "I believe I can." She then looked back at Harry. "Harry?"

He stood. "Not a freak, right?" He was quiet, but the storm had passed.

"Never." Shiva told him, before her body disappeared into snow once more. _Not ever._

"Who was that?" McGonagall asked, utterly confused.

"The Empress of Ice and Snow, a summon spirit that Harry managed to rouse when he gained Potter's Folly." Dumbledore replied. He smiled at Harry. "You might be interested to know I discovered who Fawkes' summoner is. While he did wish to remain anonymous, I was told that it takes an exceptionally powerful wizard to summon any of them from their Materia. Nothing more. The fact that you have that armlet is just coincidental."

Harry just stared at the Headmaster.

"Now, Mr. Potter. Let's get you back into the castle. You have Charms this afternoon, and I would prefer you to know how to cast once you get there." Professor McGonagall said. "I have an ability that requires me to focus magic through something other than my wand, so I should be able to impart enough to get you casting."

"Really?" Harry looked at the transfiguration professor.

She nodded and handed her wand to the headmaster, before transforming into a cat once more, and then back again. "An animagus does not require a wand for that."

"Huh." Was all Harry could say to that. _I overreacted, didn't I?_

_Yes, but considering the conditioning you received from your family, I am sadly not surprised. Disregard anything they told you about yourself and you will be doing yourself a favor._

* * *

It was a much different Harry Potter who entered the Charms classroom that afternoon. All of his fellow Ravenclaws were already there, and Harry saw nothing in their eyes like had been in Uncle Vernon's, or anyone else that knew his family.

Hermione waved him over to sit next to her again, and he did so gratefully. There were already a few Slytherins on the other side of the room. Harry pulled the holly wand back out again, having been given it back by the Deputy Headmistress.

Professor Flitwick was standing on a pile of books at his podium, and called out to Harry. "Good afternoon, Mr. Potter. Are you doing alright?" He eyes touched on Harry's wand.

_And now it appears that your headmaster has warned your teachers._

Harry nodded. "I'm doing alright, Professor. I still haven't finished your project yet."

The little man laughed. "You've got a number of days left on it yet, Mr. Potter. I'm certain you'll be fine."

Harry nodded again, and then reached into his bag and pulled out parchment. Looking at it, he smiled before looking at Hermione. "Could you do me a favor?" He asked her.

Hermione looked at the Slytherin students, still missing three, including Malfoy. Seeing as class had yet to start, she nodded.

Harry slid the parchment over to her. When she looked at it, it looked like a short answer essay quiz. Across the top was written "Hindu Religion."

"Can you ask Padma these questions for me?"

Hermione frowned. "Harry, you're not supposed to get the answers from her."

At this Harry just grinned. "No, I'm not supposed to ask her. That doesn't mean I can't get someone else to do so."

"You know, you're right." Hermione looked at him. "I didn't notice that."

Harry thought about Shiva's comments on Ravenclaw and the wordings she had used. Which had caused him to go back to the rule Professor Flitwick had put on them and discovered for himself what hadn't been said. Or maybe what he'd implied could be done? It didn't matter. "I just picked over the rules a bit."

Hermione smiled. And then looked at him carefully and at his wand. "Will you?" She trailed off.

"I'm fine, Hermione. It's fixed." He pulled out a needle. "Got it."

"Oh." Hermione looked at the needle. "Oh! Very nice, Harry."

There was a quiet clapping that came from several of the other Ravenclaws. As Harry looked at them, he saw only nods at the needle.

* * *

Later that evening in Ravenclaw tower, Harry was quietly sitting in one of the chairs near the window when Padma came up to him. She offered him the parchment back. "You're questions were through, for a monotheistic religion." She told him.

Harry looked puzzled.

"Hindu religion is polytheistic. We have more than a single god. I was not certain how much information you wanted, but I included creation as we see it, for the primary gods and goddesses." The Indian girl explained.

Harry looked down at it. Neat, small handwriting filled the spaces he'd left entirely. He then looked back to her. "Thank you."

"For the trouble you ended up going through for me to find out my answer, it's not a problem Harry." She poked his arm with a single finger, grazing his armlet. "You're not, you know."

"I know. I had that notion quite disabused from me today." Harry answered.

"But your family left a lasting mark. I added a note at the bottom of your questions, that might help you as well." Padma smiled at him, before returning to her own chair and book.

Harry looked to the bottom of the parchment. The last line made him grin, just slightly. _Many married women of India use the tika they wear as the focus for their magics. So do not believe that wands are the sole source of magic._

Harry pulled out a few pieces of parchment and quill and began working through her answers, beginning to work on the five minute talk he'd have to give about her.

And then stopped, getting partway through the creation story she'd written out.

_Shiva?_

"_That is what it says." _Her voice said, cautiously. _"I cannot recall ever doing something like that. You may have to ask Miss Patil for more information about this Shiva if you want. I would say I am curious."_

_Yeah._ Harry shook his head. _But I have to get the talk done first anyways. Padma gave me enough here for like an hour's worth._ Harry went back to writing again, a smile on his face as he worked.

Across the room, the rest of the first years were quietly talking amongst themselves. Hermione seemed to be leading the conversation.


	7. Command and Control

A/N: You guys continue to amaze me. In a week, I've gotten 14k hits, over 100 reviews, and this story is currently on over 300 story alerts. I wuv you guys.

* * *

Harry watched Hermione with amusement as she went on and on about Terry's family and what life for Muggles was like to Professor Flitwick. She veered off into what it was like to be the first wizard in his family, even though he had an older brother who wasn't.

The professor let Hermione talk for almost ten minutes before he finally cleared his throat. "You did your research well, Miss Granger. And getting others to interview Mr. Boot about his family was the perfect way to go about it."

Hermione blushed. "Well, I sort of took the lead from Harry, when he asked me to ask Padma some questions."

Flitwick nodded. "Perfectly fine, my dear. At least one person every year has the idea to do that. I'm pleased you shared it with your housemates." He nodded to the others who were waiting their turn to give their oral report. "Now, since you've well completed the five minute mark, I think it is time to let someone else speak. There are no bonus points for going over the minimum time."

"Oh." Hermione nodded. "I'm sorry Professor, I guess I just got overexcited."

"That's perfectly fine, Miss Granger. Now," as Hermione stepped back and sat in one of the common room chairs, Flitwick looked over the other first years. "Mr. Boot's already told me all about dentists." He shuddered theatrically. "So Miss Patil. Would you care to tell me what you discovered about Mr. Potter's comments?"

Harry winced.

"No." Padma answered. She had a book in her lap with the page marked, and was playing with the bookmark absently.

"Oh?" the Head of House asked her, his voice curious.

Padma nodded. "I discovered two things. One of which is not suitable for telling in public." She paused. "The other I am under threat of detention for several months if I speak of it. And it's not well suited to speaking of publicly either."

Harry breathed a quiet sigh of relief. He'd rather not have those things spilled out in the common room. Bad enough he'd had a breakdown in class.

Flitwick looked over at Harry. "Mr. Potter?"

"Yes sir?"

"I have a fair idea on what she is speaking of. Do you think it would have been worth five minutes of talking?"

His home life? Not really. Potter's Folly? Yeah, there was probably hours worth of stuff to talk about there. He nodded. "Yes sir."

"Alright, we'll count that then. If you wish to talk about it, I'm willing to listen. But for the moment, what did you learn of Miss Patil?"

Harry stood, rolled parchment in his hands. He'd read it over and over again for the past few days, enough that everything on there was fairly well committed to memory.

"Padma's religion is polytheistic, with multiple gods. There are three primary gods." Harry began his speech. "Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer."

_Though I do not recall my own origins, I am fairly certain that this story is missing things if it is mine._

"Brahma came from a golden egg that floated in the cosmic waters before the world was created. Vishnu was the god that measured the extent of the world in three steps. Shiva came when Brahma and Vishnu were arguing which one was more powerful, and a giant pillar appeared that went high into the sky and deep into the earth. When Brahma and Vishnu attempted to find the edges of the pillar, they failed. Returning to the center of it, Shiva appeared from an opening in the pillar."

_I understand that all three of these creator gods had four arms and faces, but I am not male. If this is somehow a story that includes myself, how do they miss something like that?_

Harry mentally shrugged and continued on for Professor Flitwick.

"There are many myths about the three primary gods of the Hindu. One for Shiva is that he saved the world and the gods from destruction by swallowing the poison of Vasuki, which turned him blue."

_Would you ask Padma for any more of these stories about her Shiva? They are just tantalizing enough that I am curious._

_Even if you're not female in them?_ Harry joked in his mind.

Harry continued on about her religion's requirements for a few minutes until he knew he'd broken the five minute mark and then stopped. "I can go on, if you'd like Professor."

Flitwick shook his head. "No, you've done your five minutes, Mr. Potter. I don't want to keep everyone here all night."

Harry nodded and sat down. He nudged Padma, catching her attention. "Thank you." He whispered to her, as Su Li stood up to talk about Morag.

"You're welcome, Harry." She replied, watching Su talk.

Harry listened as well, until Su had finished. As Morag got up, Harry spoke quietly again. "Do you have any more stories about Shiva, Padma? I'd like to hear some more."

His housemate gave him a quizzical look. "I know many such, Harry. You wish to know of Shiva?"

Harry nodded.

"What aspect? The judge of the wicked, the dancer, another?"

Harry paused, thinking as Morag continued talking.

_I do not know what aspect might best give us any usable information, Harry._

Morag finished, and Anthony stood up. Hermione, noticing them talking quickly moved over to the conversation. Padma frowned slightly, before her face became neutral once more.

"All of them." Harry simply said.

"That would be a long telling then. Shiva has many aspects, as befits a ruler of the universe." Padma began.

'Shiva?' Hermione mouthed, the name ringing a bell but not readily remembering where from. Harry's report had been interesting as well.

"Would you care to let me study your armlet in return?" Padma continued, her voice dropping a bit. "If you don't want to, that's ok. I'll still tell you of Shiva."

"Oh, can I study it as well, Harry?" Hermione jumped in.

"I believe I had offered a trade, Hermione." Padma said. Her eyes continued to stay on Anthony as he spoke.

Harry shrugged, looking between the two girls. He was about to speak when Shiva spoke up. _Let us see what Hermione responds with. I know you would not mind either of them doing so, but you should not always give of yourself for free._

Hermione's face drooped. "Oh." She looked at Harry. "Sorry, I didn't even think of it like that." She didn't speak for a few minutes.

Harry nodded to Padma. "I don't mind." He let her know.

It was only a few more people to go through before everyone had had a chance to speak, and Professor Flitwick nodded. "As usual, my Ravenclaws are superb in their research. I'll work with each of you sometime in the next two weeks to get your room set up."

As the students split back up as Professor Flitwick left the tower, Harry pulled out a parchment of his own, looking at it and grabbing a nearby quill while Padma reopened her book.

Hermione just sat there looking forlorn for a while, before she started, looking back at Harry. "Charms. You're having issues with them, right? I'll work with you until you can get them right."

Harry looked up from his parchment. "I said I didn't mind if it wasn't a trade, Hermione. But I'd be glad for the help, thank you."

Hermione flushed. "." she stuttered out, before sticking her tongue out at him. "Boys." She finally huffed.

_And to think, I was the one to cause this and not you._ Shiva interjected in Harry's mind.

Harry cracked a smile.

"I'll have to talk to Parvati. She may remember more of the stories than I do, and I do not want to give you only a partial trade." Padma added as she looked up from her book once more.

"Since tomorrow is Saturday, Harry, do you want to work on the Charms tomorrow and let us look at your armlet on Sunday?" Hermione offered.

"Sure." Harry nodded. "But I can't take it off. It's more or less seamless and won't come off."

Hermione and Padma looked at each other, and then looked back at Harry who shrugged. "I'm just saying. I can spin it around all I want, but it won't go below my elbow." He touched the armlet under his sleeve, almost all the way at the shoulder. "It normally stays right here though."

* * *

"So, what do you want to work on first, Harry?" Hermione asked as they entered the empty Charms classroom. She'd asked Professor Flitwick and had found out it was available any time there wasn't a class available, so long as they were careful.

"Everything, but I guess start with Wingardium Leviosa." Harry looked chagrined.

"But you were able to do that one perfectly!" Hermione looked confused.

Harry shook his head. "I cheated." Harry held out his hand at a desk. "Float." The desk jumped into the air. Harry focused on it and moved his hand, the desk following suit.

"Harry, you did that wandlessly!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Hermione." Harry looked at her funny. "If you'll remember when I broke down," Harry took a deep breath at that reminder, but quickly moved on, "no wand chose me. I'm using the armlet for casting, remember?"

Now it was Hermione's turn to look chagrined. "Oh, yeah." She looked at the desk. "Go ahead and set it down."

Harry just pulled his hand away, ending the spell.

_Actually, using it as a Command is just an act of will and magic, it needed no focus. Can you tell how much magic that used, Harry?_ Shiva said, before her body formed away from Hermione.

Harry judged the gem he considered his magic, noting how light it was compared to a moment ago. _Umm, not too much?_

Shiva nodded. _"For a focused use of a Command then, that is good. I will keep note of which ones take more from you. It will give me a better idea if you are borrowing my affinity or not. But do not try any of the damaging spells inside."_

Hermione nodded at the desk. "Alright, without cheating then."

Harry held his hand back up at the desk. Focusing on the armlet he wore, he opened the gem up and pushed magic from it at the armlet. "_Wingardium Leviosa!"_ He yelled, releasing the magic outwards.

Nothing happened. Harry hung his head.

Hermione looked at the desk oddly. "Perfect enunciation. Does it do anything when you at least use the wand movements?"

Harry shook his head.

"Hmm..." Hermione paused. "So what do you do when you cast then?"

"Push my magic at the armlet while focusing on it, then call the spell while releasing the magic through it. Visualize what is supposed to happen."

Hermione gave Harry a look. "Do what now?"

"It's what Professor McGonagall has me doing for transfiguration." Harry explained.

"But, how? I went looking for wandless magic books the second day here and you're basically describing that, Harry. But the book said that my magic wouldn't be stable enough to even attempt it until puberty!"

She looked at Harry.

"You didn't already go through puberty, did you?" She asked.

"No." Harry said quickly.

Hermione sighed. "Alright, we need to go to the library and pull those books on wandless magic. Or ask Professor Flitwick. I'm fairly certain he could help us."

"Books." Harry said. "I'd rather try it myself first."

"Let's go then!" Hermione pulled Harry out the door of the Charms classroom.

* * *

Hermione almost ran by Madam Pince on her way to the bookshelves before she ground to a halt. "No running in the library." She said, her wand out. She waved it again and Hermione took a step and turned around.

"Sorry. I was in a hurry." Hermione apologized. Madam Pince just gave her a look before returning to what she was working on.

Harry grinned as he followed the excitable Hermione into the library proper. The bushy haired 'Claw began shuffling through books on the shelves, before pulling two. She offered one to Harry.

"_The Inner Wizard, Magic from the Self and not the Wand_" Harry read out loud. "Which one do you have?"

"_Common Magics Unwanded_" Hermione told him. "They're the only ones I could find in the limited time I've been here." She apologized.

"Hermione, the fact that you found two in what, under two weeks, is amazing anyways." Harry shook his head.

Sitting down at one of the tables, Harry cracked open the book he had. "Let me know what you find for instructions in that one?" Harry asked.

Hermione nodded, opening hers.

A couple of hours went by as both slogged through the books. Harry was fairly unhappy about the fact that the first four chapters at least were apparently about the dangers, safeties, and other miscellaneous aspects of wandless magic.

"What I wouldn't do for a glossary or index." He sighed, as Hermione smiled at him from her own book. "Anything?"

"Not yet. I admit I only skimmed them looking for if I could do it, so I don't have a good idea of what's in either." Hermione said to him.

Harry shrugged, and went back into reading mode.

It was another thirty minutes before Harry found it. Reading through the particular section, he nodded. "Well, here's something at least." He said aloud.

Hermione paused in her own book, looking at Harry.

" 'Magics that come from the wizard directly bypass the core and wand that they are used to casting through. However, in learning to do so, most wizards have a hard time overcoming the power requirements. Most never manage Transfiguration at all wandless, as the requirements of focus, power, and imagination are usually too daunting to overcome. However, those magics that can be done wandlessly are usually done by tracing the movement of the magics just as if it had been done with a wand, before releasing.' "

Harry frowned. "I can't just wave my shoulder or elbow like a wand movement though."

"True." Hermione sighed, looking at his book. "Keep reading?" She asked.

"Yeah, keep going." Harry answered.

It took several more hours before both of them were done with their books. Hermione sighed afterwards. "Mine didn't go any further in basic explanations than yours did. It assumes a higher skill level than we have right now."

"I guess I'll have to go talk to Professor Flitwick then." Harry groused. "I had hoped that what Professor McGonagall had shown me was enough."

Harry returned the book to the shelf. "Thanks though, Hermione."

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to help with your Charms work." Hermione looked sad. "Will you still let me do research on your armlet?"

"I said it was ok, remember? I wasn't lying." Harry smiled at her.

Hermione smiled back. "Alright, tomorrow then. I need to go prepare." Quickly shelving the book, Hermione made a fast walk out of the library.

Harry shook his head, before heading out to Professor Flitwick's office. Hopefully, the Head of House was available.

* * *

The bronze and blue eagle swooped across the door, before disappearing into the clouds. After a moment, it opened revealing Professor Flitwick. "Ah, Mr. Potter. Come to discuss your room?"

"Actually, I've got a problem Professor." Harry replied.

"Come in then, and let's see what we can do about it." Flitwick opened the door further and let Harry in.

Professor Flitwick's office was sized for himself, and Harry felt slightly odd sitting in a chair whose seat was almost level with the professor's desk. As Flitwick sat in his chair, the furniture he sat on grew until it was a better height, with Flitwick sitting at an eye to eye level with Harry.

At Harry's raised eyebrow, Flitwick smiled. "I do not particularly like having to look up at my students when we're talking, nor do I think I should tower above them either. Now, what can I do for you then, Mr. Potter?"

Harry grimaced, looking down. "I'm having issues casting, sir. Since I'm not actually using a wand, wand movements do nothing for me. Point and power things like Transfiguration work well enough with the armlet, but anything that requires more complex motions fail. Hermione had found a couple of wandless magic books in the library, but the instruction there didn't make much sense either. I'm still using a focus, just not something I'm holding."

Flitwick nodded. "True, true. May I ask how you managed the Levitation Charm then? As I recall you mastered that quite readily, and it has a swish and flick."

"_You are going to end up having to tell someone about the Command level magics. Otherwise, this will keep happening when you substitute it for the magic you are supposed to be learning."_ Shiva chimed in.

_I know. It is alright if I do?_

From neaby, Shiva nodded. _"I would not have mentioned it otherwise. If asked for a demonstration, do not go beyond Float or Toad. I do not want you hurting yourself or damaging someone else._"

"I cheated on that one." Harry said. "What did the headmaster tell you about the armlet?" He then asked.

"Potter's Folly?" Flitwick thought. "Hmm.. Do you mean about summoning a spirit?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, Shiva."

He meant to continue, before Flitwick laughed. "Oh, that's grand. Is it Miss Patil's Shiva?"

Harry shook his head. "She doesn't have four arms or three faces or anything like that. But we are looking into it."

"We?" Flitwick asked.

"Yes. Shiva and I. I asked Padma for any more stories about Shiva in her religion. We want to see if there's anything there that Shiva might know of."

"Curious. Well, let me know what you find out please?" Harry nodded to Flitwick's question. "But back to the subject at hand."

"I can cast a few spells like Shiva can, apparently. She calls it Commanding magic. I can show you?"

Flitwick nodded his ascent, his own wand swishing for a moment but nothing visible happened.

Harry pointed his hand at one of the other chairs near him. "Float." A touch of the red disappeared from his gem, and the chair rose up.

"Interesting, very interesting." Flitwick said, staring at the chair. "It is being held up with magic. But I do not see any underpinnings of a spell."

"_I Command, and magic obeys. My will bends the magic to my demand." _Shiva said.

"Um, Shiva explained it as 'my will bends the magic to my demand.'" Harry offered.

Flitwick looked at Harry, and then over his shoulder directly at Shiva. "Oh, how interesting. An outline of your magic holding in another type. Shiva can partially manifest?"

_That is Empress Shiva. I will grind it into their heads. Only a summoner may be so familiar with my name!_ Shiva yelled, the words echoing in Harry's mind again.

Harry winced. "Professor, she is an Empress. She doesn't like anyone calling her just Shiva, except me because I can summon her. And, you're talking about her like she isn't here."

"Ah, my apologies then." Flitwick nodded to Shiva. "Does this cost you any more magic than what it you use casting, sorry Commanding it, to sustain it?"

Harry shook his head. "No."

"Alright, go ahead and cancel it."

Harry looked at the floating chair and it fell noisily. "Sorry."

Flitwick smiled. "No no, dear boy. Not a problem at all. Interesting magic to say the least. But we need to get you casting normally as well. I am not certain how much this Command magic does, but it may not be as flexible."

"_No, it is normally battle magics. Float just looks benign, but it was designed as a counter to earthen magics." _Shiva agreed with the Charms professor.

"I do not have much experience with wandless magics, and I do not think your magical core is developed enough to use it anyways. But I do have a fair bit of experience with alternate foci."

_My gem looks as developed as your does, Shiva. Should I mention that to him?_ Harry asked.

"_Gem? Your magic is a gem?" _Shiva's voice was now filled with surprise. _"Red like mine as well?"_

_Uh, yes?_ Harry answered.

"_That would explain your ability to use Command magics. But no, I do not think it would make a difference to your Charms professor. Who is trying to get your attention."_ Shiva smiled.

Harry jerked, looking at the bemused professor.

"Lost in your thoughts, Mr. Potter?" He asked.

Harry gave him a sheepish look. "Sorry, I was talking to Shiva."

"I assumed as much. You'll have to learn to split your attention when speaking with her, otherwise you might end up hurting yourself." Flitwick was still smiling. "Now, as I was saying. Alternate foci come in all varieties."

"Padma said married women in India use their tika." Harry mentioned.

Flitwick nodded. "Exactly. There are Japanese that focus magic through hand sigils as well. I think your armlet falls more under the classification as the tika does though. How attached are you to looking like you are wand casting?"

Harry looked confused for a moment, before shaking his head. "I'd prefer to, but I'd also prefer to be able to cast as well."

"That's the spirit." Flitwick laughed. "Alright, I assume that Professor McGonagall gave you the basics in using your focus?"

Harry nodded. "Yes sir. I was able to do Transfigurations afterwards."

"Point and power the spell, yes. That makes it sound more and more like a touch focus, like the tika." Flitwick nodded.

"Touch focus?"

"Transfigurations do not require as many complex motions if you are willing to expend the extra energy to forgo them. Therefore, you are just throwing additional magic at it to overcome not using the exact wand movements. A touch focus means you have to touch the focus and then draw the spell in the air to release it."

The desk Flitwick was sitting at shrunk, and the tiny Charms professor moved over to another table. Picking up a necklace with a blue gem in it, he showed it to Harry. "This is a touch focus as well, or more precisely the gem is."

Flitwick donned the necklace and set his wand down. Harry watched as he squinted his eyes in concentration, before touching the gem. He then ran his finger through the air and then tapped above that point. "_Wingardium Leviosa." _He called, and the chair that had fallen rose up and righted itself.

Flitwick then removed the necklace and set it back down. "I'm not very well attuned to that focus, since I use my wand all the time. The motion you draw is the same motion the end of a wand takes. Try it."

Nodding, Harry focused on the armlet. Touching it with his hand, Harry could actually feel the magic vibrating in it, drawn from his own center. When he pulled back, the energy was left vibrating on a fingertip. Drawing the end of a swish and flick and feeling the magic left in the air, Harry called out the same spell Professor Flitwick did.

"_Wingardium Leviosa!" _Harry called.

Harry actually felt the rush of magic as the air drawn spell broke and surged forward. Half the room lifted into the air.

Flitwick looked around, wide-eyed. "I think we need to work on precision and control, Mr. Potter."

* * *

So, Read and Review, yes?


	8. Public Knowledge

A/Ns: For those of you that do not have your Private Messaging turned on, it's really hard to do a review reply to you. A couple quick notes though. Harry here is a First Year Ravenclaw, not a fifth year Gryffindor. The difference is he's not had hero-BWL stuff shoved at him for five years. So what is out of character for Harry vs. Umbridge isn't OOC here.

The Weasleys are all Gryffindors. Harry has one class with them and it's flying. Other than that, Harry has no real interactions with the Gryffindors. Draco's response is in this chapter. Hedwig is out because of the fact that Hagrid was already back at the castle and didn't go back to Diagon just to get a gift for Harry.

These chapters are coming to you raw as I write them. I do not have a stock of them pre-written.

And now, on with the show!

* * *

The next day Harry met Padma and Hermione in an empty classroom near the Ravenclaw tower. It was actually somewhat hard to find one, as apparently a number of the older students had staked them out as study rooms.

Hermione shuffled through a few dozen pieces of parchment she'd put on a desk. "So, Harry. Let's start easy. I'm not sure if Padma knows, but I know I don't. What is Potter's Folly?"

"It's a mithril armlet that was in my parent's family vault. Kinda like the sword in the stone deal, except I doubt it lets me be King of England." Harry grinned. "But from what I understand, it's been in there for over twenty generations and has driven my family nuts trying to get it out. No, I don't know why I was able to get it." Harry answered the next obvious question.

Hermione wrote that down. "Wait, mithril? What is that?"

"It is the heart of large warding schemes." Padma answered for Harry. "Mithril is very powerful, magically. The wards that protect Hogwarts are likely anchored by a heartstone with mithril in it."

Padma looked at the armlet Harry wore once more. "From what I understand, it'd be a small portion of that armlet to re-ward the school."

Hermione paused. "Wait, what?" She stared between Padma and Harry's arm. "That's… insane. Where does it come from?"

Padma answered that again. "Specialized mining. From what I know, mithril has never been found above about 6 miles underground. And in very small deposits. One of my cousins back home used to work on such a mine crew."

Hermione whistled. "That's deep, like into the mantle deep."

"_Diablos could create mithril, if it was required."_ Shiva said from the other side of Harry. _"It took him effort, but he could. How long was I dormant that none of us are known anymore?"_

_Diablos?_ Harry shot the thought back.

"_I will give you a lesson on my kind later. I would like to see if any of the others beyond Phoenix are still alive beforehand."_

"Does it do anything for your magic, Harry?" Padma asked, her own quill at parchment now.

"I'm not really certain. I've never used anything else or seen much other magic to be able to tell the difference." Harry responded.

Padma nodded. "That's understandable."

"Well, maybe..." Harry trailed off.

"What?" Hermione asked excitedly.

"Professor Flitwick showed me how to use the armlet as an actual focus. I'm not sure if it's because I'm not used to it or the armlet, but I wasn't able to levitate a single item. Instead, I lifted like half his office a couple inches off the ground."

Both girls looked slightly stunned at that. "Demonstration!" Hermione yelled, pointing to the desks in the room.

"Fine, fine." Harry grumbled good naturedly. Concentrating for a moment, Harry touched the armlet and then drew the swish and flick motion. "_Wingardium Leviosa"_ When the spell cast, Harry again felt a rush of energy leave the spot he drew. It picked up eight desks and chairs before stopping, and they hovered a few inches off the ground.

"Can you lift it further?" Padma asked. "A single feather we could lift and float around as we chose. Can you do that with these? In whole or singly?"

Harry, who had already dropped his hand, lifted it back up again and tried to direct the furniture. "No."

"Try recasting it. Don't drop your hand afterwards." Hermione suggested.

The furniture dropped heavily. "_Wingardium Leviosa"_ Harry called again. This time he kept his hand up as the furniture floated. He struggled to move his arm, but slowly it did so and the furniture as a whole moved with it. "It's heavy. It's like I'm trying to lift it all at once myself." Harry let his arm drop heavily, and this time the furniture dropped with it.

"That's relevant." Padma noted. "Possible issues with directed casting."

"_Wingardium Leviosa_" Hermione called, lifting a single chair up. "It's not heavy to me, but it's a heck of a drain magically." She let it fall, sweat beading on her brow already. "Was lifting all that taxing magically, Harry?"

"Not really, no." Harry shrugged.

Hermione sighed. "We don't have a baseline of you casting without it though. It's going to be nearly impossible to tell whether you're just that strong magically, or if the armlet supplements your casting."

"May we take a closer look at the armlet, Harry?" Padma asked, standing. "We may not know any runes or enchantments, but we can certainly look up whatever we find."

"Sure." Harry offered his arm out, sliding the armlet to his elbow. "That's as far as it goes, it doesn't come off."

Padma raised an eyebrow, and both girls wrote that down. They then started looking at the armlet. "Can you spin it around, Harry?" Hermione asked. "There's nothing visible on this part of it."

Harry obliged, turning the armlet around.

"Hey, what's this?" Hermione asked, stopping him. "Do you know what this gem is?"

"_Are you going to tell them the truth?"_ Shiva asked. _"Do you trust them enough to tell them?"_

"It's part of the armlet. I don't think it has anything to do with the focus itself though. I don't know what it's made of." Harry prevaricated.

"If it is part of a mithril armlet, it likely has some function. Especially since I do not see any runes or such on it." Padma looked at Harry.

"I found a basic diagnostic charm last night. I think one of us could pull it off on the gem." Hermione added.

"I'm willing to let you guys try it." Harry said.

"_This ought to be entertaining."_ Shiva smiled.

Hermione explained the casting of the charm to Harry and Padma, going over the wand movements with them. Harry had Hermione go through the wand movements several times, slowly, so that he could try to memorize the motions.

Both Hermione and Padma then tried to cast it on the armlet, only for the armlet to return no information. "Did we get it wrong?" Hermione asked.

Padma motioned to Hermione, casting the spell at her wand. A glimmer of magic exited Padma's wand. "It appears to work. It registers your wand as vine wood and a dragonheart string. Nothing else though."

Hermione frowned. "We're not going to be able to get anything else then, are we?"

"Looks like not." Harry confirmed. _Is it ok to let them look into it more?_ Harry mentally asked.

"_I am fairly certain they won't ever actually get a spell to stick to the Materia, or likely not even the armlet. They are welcome to continue trying though."_ Shiva answered.

"If you guys want to try again later, I'd be willing to help." Harry then offered.

"Deal." They both told him.

* * *

With the basics of casting finally under his belt, Harry was able to finally focus on actual spellwork. Like Professor Flitwick had said, however, his new issue was precision and control.

What was actually funny in Professor Flitwick's office looked a lot different in the Charms classroom, when Harry turned a quarter of his classmates and their seats light blue, when he was just trying to change the color of a wooden ball at his desk to a dark blue.

That had necessitated Professor Flitwick interrupting the class to explain the issue to the combined Ravenclaw/Slytherin class.

Which was why, three weeks later, Harry was sitting up in the Headmaster's office once more, only this time there was an official from the Ministry of Magic and a representative of the Hogwarts Board of Governors instead of Hagrid and Mr. Olivander.

_I'd really prefer them instead._ Harry mentioned to Shiva.

In the fairly crowded room, Shiva had forgone making a body for herself. _I admit I am curious as to why you are here, myself._

"How long had you planned on letting a student run around unchecked, Albus?" The platinum blond representative asked icily. "During a routine check, it was noted that one of your students hasn't cast a single spell from his registered wand. Why did you allow a student an alternate focus?"

The Headmaster sat at his desk and smiled. Lemon drops had already been offered and rebuffed. "It was not a matter of allow, Lucius. Mr. Potter went to Olivander's for a wand. The fact that he already had an heirloom focus that attuned to him caused no wand to select him."

_They could have had this argument without me._ Harry thought.

"Then why did he get a wand, if not to get around the Trace?" Lucius asked.

"I had hoped he would be able to eventually use both, Mr. Malfoy."

_Ah, thought he looked familiar. Must be related to Draco._ Harry continued commenting.

"But it appears that his heirloom does not play well with other foci." Dumbledore continued.

"Then you should have requested to have someone come and place the Trace on his focus before now, Dumbledore. It has been a month. I will be bringing your inattention up with the Governors."

The blond man turned to his companion. "Go ahead."

The other man turned to Harry. "Mr. Potter, I am Mr. Stokes, part of the Improper Use of Magic office. I'll need your focus for a few hours to properly put the Trace on it. I promise you I will not be modifying it."

Harry cut his eyes over to the Headmaster who just smiled. Harry sighed. "I'm sorry Mr. Stokes, but I can't remove it."

"Excuse me?" The three adults in the room asked.

Harry rolled up his sleeve, showing the armlet. "I can slide it from near my shoulder to above my elbow, but it will not go any lower."

"Then unclasp it. Do not take this lightly, Mr. Potter. Willful refusal to work with a Ministry official can get you in a lot of trouble." Lucius interjected.

Harry slowly spun the armlet for Mr. Stokes. "I can't remove it, sir. There is no clasp, it sealed itself after it was on my arm."

Behind the other two, Harry saw a slight frown appear on Dumbledore's face.

"I'll have to enchant it while you're wearing it then." Mr. Stokes sighed.

"Why not just vanish the bones from his arm so it can be slid off of his arm?" Lucius suggested. He looked a bit too interested in the idea for Harry's taste.

_If they continue in this vein, I will be forced to shatter one of their wands as a warning._ Shiva's voice was cold. _Whichever of them raises it first._

"That is entirely too much, Lucius. We have a perfectly viable method that George is willing to go through." Dumbledore overruled the man.

Harry smiled at that, and Shiva calmed a bit as well.

"It'll take an extra hour or so, but it's easily doable." Mr. Stokes agreed.

Lucius scowled. "Then go ahead. I'll see to the paperwork with the Board."

Lucius disappeared into the green flames with a call of "Ministry of Magic Atrium."

Mr. Stokes looked at the Headmaster. "Would you mind if I add the enchantment here, Albus? That way you can confirm the addition of the Trace."

"Certainly. I don't have any appointments today." Dumbledore stated. "However, before we begin you may need to look more into Mr. Potter's focus."

Mr. Stokes nodded. "True." He then looked to Harry. "Well, let's see what we can do, eh Mr. Potter?"

Harry lifted his sleeve, bringing the armlet into view. Mr. Stokes poked it with his wand once, before rearing back. "Mithril?" He looked between Harry and Dumbledore. "Is this Potter's Folly?"

_Well, there goes the neighborhood._ Harry thought. "Yes sir, it is."

"I'm fairly certain I'm nowhere near qualified to work with mithril. Albus, would you? I will write the verification."

"I can, yes." Dumbledore stood with his wand. "Mr. Potter? Could you turn the armlet towards myself?"

_If he tries anything stupid, I'm bringing the room down._ Shiva's voice went cold again.

On his perch, a young Fawkes trilled.

_No, Phoenix, I'm not going to be calm about this!_

Dumbledore touched Harry's armlet with his wand and then pulled back. He chanted a few words, his wand making odd movements in the air.

A peal of laughter rang out in Harry's mind then. _That tickles! And, it's breaking up in the mithril. It's not accepting the spell. Perhaps I should have taken Phoenix's advice._

Apparently, the Headmaster picked that up as well as he quickly stopped. "I am uncertain as to how the Folly was originally enchanted, Mr. Stokes, but it ends any spells I am tempting to cast on it."

_And as a bonus, it left enough energy in the mithril that a tiny fraction is converting over to my own magic. This Trace must be a powerful piece of magic for the mithril to leave any portion of the dispelled magic available for me to pick up._

_How much?_ Harry quickly asked.

_If the entire body was made of magic, I just managed to regain an eyelash._ Shiva responded.

"He has to have the Trace on his focus, Albus. Lucius had a point." Mr. Stokes insisted.

Dumbledore nodded. "He is still in school though, until May. We have time to come up with a solution."

"I guess." Mr. Stokes reluctantly agreed. "I'm still going to have to register his focus correctly, however. The holly and phoenix feather wand will be removed and a mithril and ruby armlet will be added."

"If there is anything else?" Dumbledore asked.

"No. I'll work on a solution for the Trace. May I assume you will as well?"

Dumbledore nodded.

"Then I'm back to work." With that, a new pinch of Floo Powder, and a call of 'Ministry of Magic Atrium' Mr. Stokes was gone.

The Headmaster looked back to Harry, a twinkle in his eye now. "Now that that is over with, Harry, do you have anything you wish to discuss with me?"

"Unless you can tell me how to be more precise and controlled with a touch focus, no sir." Harry shook his head.

Harry's brain all of a sudden felt like it was dumped in ice water. _My apologies for that, Harry. You were having thoughts not your own._

Harry looked at the Headmaster, who was blinking rapidly. "Well then, best be off with you then, my boy."

Harry nodded jerkily, as with the receding cold came a headache.

_Go outside. If you can find a quiet area, I would like you to summon me again. Phoenix reminded me that I promised you a discussion, and I need to explain more than just my kind now, apparently._

* * *

__Yes, I know a lot of this seems to be information dumping. But hey, we've successfully moved out of September now. Trolls ahead!

Read and review, please!_  
_


	9. Private Knowledge

A/N: Another day, another chapter.

* * *

Finding a secluded place to summon Shiva was a bit harder than Harry expected. The difference between a day during classes and the weekend was a couple hundred people meandering the grounds. After a bit of walking though, Harry was finally far enough from the school that he couldn't see anyone else.

Standing at the edge of the treeline into the Forbidden Forest and past the Whomping Willow was about as far as you could get from the castle though, and still be on Hogwarts grounds.

"_[Shiva, Empress of Ice and Snow, I offer magic to build a body and summon you forth!]"_ Harry called. This was the third time Harry had called her, the fourth time he'd seen this effect, but it was still amazing to watch. It was slightly chilly, but the summoning didn't care for what the actual temperature was as the ground froze around the shattering ice crystals, before returning to normal.

Shiva smiled at Harry as she brushed a bit of ice out of her hair. "What happened in that office was I felt something connect to your thoughts. Knowing how we are connected, I knew it was not myself, and it did not have the feel of Phoenix, either. So I froze the probe. The backwash of the magic was what happened to you."

"Oh." Harry nodded. "Um, do you know who did it?"

Shiva shook her head. "Unfortunately, I was barely aware of the attempt, only that your thoughts shifted in a way that was not yours, which lead me to the probe into your mind. I will protect you from any further attempts as well."

"Thanks. Do you think it was the Headmaster?" Harry asked. He really hoped not.

"Doubtful. I have already shown him what I would do if he interfered in the bond between us. Now, we may have our discussion. But history second, I need to see who among my kind are still active first."

Shiva turned and raised a hand, an ice crystal forming on the ground and rising up. Harry whistled quietly. It was at least three times as thick as the crystals that appeared when Shiva was summoned.

"Thankfully, this does not take a great deal of magic on my part to do." Shiva mentioned, before running a hand over the crystal. Where her fingers trailed, the ice became perfectly reflective.

"Ifrit." She called into the ice. Long seconds went by and nothing happened. "Ramuh." She called a new word. Again, the wait was fruitless.

"Now I am curious if the magic is working at all." Shiva frowned. "Phoenix."

This time, the reflective surface of the ice changed. A elegant firebird appeared in it, bearing a very strong resemblence to Fawkes. "My calls are working then, Phoenix? Do any others exist?" Shiva asked, her voice holding more than a trace of worry.

Phoenix screeched, and Shiva shook her head. "Thank you then. I will not waste any more energy. Contact Harry if you wish to speak with me, please."

The ice crystal melted, leaving behind a puddle of water, as Shiva sunk to her knees.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked, concerned for his friend.

"Not particularly." Shiva said quietly, looking at the puddle. "All of the seats of power are empty. Ramuh's Lightning Tower, Ifrit's Hellforge. The tri-throne of Bahamut. Pheonix was amazed that I am still here, as the Throne of Ice is still empty."

"Anything I can do?" Harry asked, though he knew the chances of that were likely nil.

Shiva shook her head. "No. They are all gone." She looked at Harry. "I think the only reason I still exist is because of you, Harry. Sit down and I will tell you of us, those who represent power."

Harry sat, curiousity written on his face, though concern was there as well. "Do you want to tell me later?"

"No. It is best to do so now."

Shiva looked into the sky, thinking. "What I am, what Phoenix is, and what Ifrit, Ramah, Bahamut, Diablos, Hades and a dozen others were." She began.

"Aspects of power given shape and form. You recall the map of the world you found, to see if I knew where the Throne of Ice was?" Shiva asked, and Harry nodded. "I did not. In fact, I did not even recognize the landmasses. The land shifts itself, slowly. It must have been a very long time since Shiva last looked upon the world for it to have shifted so far."

"Don't you mean you last looked upon the world?" Harry questioned.

"No, Shiva. The Materia is a reflected power of Shiva, that empowers the person that uses it based on their own magical strength. When a Materia was created for one of us, that Materia was imbued with a fragment of their power and wisdom. But it was not the same thing."

The blue woman looked forlorn. "When I could not draw additional magic from the Throne of Ice the first time I needed to, I thought I had been dethroned and another had formed to take my place. When it appeared no one was on the throne, I thought that I as Shiva had taken drastic measures against something and abdicated, leaving the Throne empty. But I do not have any memories of such a thing."

"Instead, I think something happened to wipe out my kind, however long ago it was. Phoenix is the power of rebirth through fire, so it does not surprise me that he was able to reconsititute eventually. The rest of us had no ability to be reborn, because we were the aspect of power. Destroy us, and you destroy that power." She chuckled darkly. "Or so they thought, apparently. Fire still burns and lightning still falls, even though Ifrit and Ramuh are no more. And though the King of the Dragons no longer flies the skies, Bahamut's children still exist."

"You're still Shiva though." Harry said. "If the rest of Shiva is gone, then that makes you Shiva." Harry paused, thinking. "Or maybe her legacy?"

Shiva looked at Harry with consideration. "That is a possibility. Mithril was not a common item used for armlets or other decorative items from what I recall. It is possible that the link between Shiva and the Throne of Ice was shattered. Such a happening would have destroyed any Materia that was linked as well. But perhaps the mithril negated the destruction of my particular Materia."

She tapped a finger against a leg, thinking. "That would explain a large amount of issues, actually."

Shiva stood and stepped away from Harry a few yards. "Stay over there for a moment, Harry. I think I have been going at this all wrong."

Her hands came together and then pulled apart just slightly. Breathing into them, Harry heard her call "Diamond Dust."

The artic wind that Harry remembered blew into her hands once more, but did not go out further. Instead, it continued to swirl again and again, picking up speed until it seemed she held an entire snowstorm between her hands.

"I am Shiva, of the Ice and Snow." She called into her hands. "The Throne of Ice stands empty. I stand forward and declare myself its Heiress, to prove my worth to ascend to its power."

The storm in Shiva's hands seemed to grow even more. The blue woman strained against it for long moments, before finally clasping her hands together.

Harry felt like his arm had been turned into a ice cube, as freezing energy radiated from the Materia in his armlet, before vanishing, leaving Harry rubbing his arm gingerly. Though the skin wasn't frozen or anything, it still hurt.

Shiva fell, and Harry stumbled to his feet, running over to her. "Shiva!"

Above them, the air flashed with fire as Fawkes appeared, swooping down as well. The phoenix landed near Shiva as Harry dropped to his knees, shaking Shiva's arm. "Are you alright?"

Sitting up jerkily, Shiva nodded. "Yes, actually." As she moved a bit to ensure she wasn't somehow hurt, Harry winced hearing joints crack. "The Throne accepted me, though barely. I will have to eventually go to it to claim the mantle of Empress of Ice and Snow." She then looked at Harry. "Are you alright? The Materia was used as the connection to the Throne."

Harry lifted his arm and winced. "Mostly. It's not actually hurt, but it felt like my arm froze for a moment."

"For that I apologize. The Throne of Ice actually made adjustments to the Materia." Shiva closed her eyes for a moment. "Originally, I could have cast Diamond Dust five times before needing to recharge. I was down to the energy to cast it three times before this. Now, the Materia only holds enough energy for it to be used once."

"So you lost power to the Throne?" Harry asked, a puzzled look on his face. "But it accepted you, right?"

"Yes, but not as the Empress. And Diamond Dust is magic only allowed to her. I can no longer cast that magic, but I still may cast anything else. The Throne will supply the Materia with magic once I release the Esper body."

"Well, I guess that's good. You don't have to worry about running out of magic completely then, right?"

"Correct." Shiva nodded.

"Can I ask a question then?"

"You may ask anything you want, Harry." Shiva smiled. "What question may I answer for you?"

"What is an Esper body? You mentioned that at Gringotts as well."

"Ah. What an Esper body is, is what I am now when you summon me. You provide the magic and I shape it into a body to use. It is a much more powerful version of summoning than what a Materia is usually used for." She held up a hand at Harry's next question. "Normally, a Materia is just used to summon for a single, powerful attack. The Diamond Dust, for example. When an aspect of power creates an Esper however, it is a full body given form with few limitations."

Harry nodded.

"Now, I think we have spent enough time here that others may soon start looking for you. I would suggest you return to the castle." Shiva's body fell apart into snow, which quickly began to melt. _You do not want to worry them._

"No, I don't."

* * *

The month of October found itself quickly coming and going, with all the Ravenclaw first years quickly learning that History of Magic and Defense Against the Dark Arts were fast becoming self-study courses. The former due to the ghost that couldn't teach and the latter because by the time Professor Quirrell managed to stutter his way through a lecture, the class was pretty much over with no chance for questions or practice.

Harry did find time to visit Hagrid a few times, and was told to keep hush hush about the Hagrid sized pumpkins he had growing in the yard for Halloween. Harry didn't have the heart to tell him you could see them from the castle, which was actually what had brought him down in the first place.

And then, with undue haste, Harry found it Halloween.

* * *

"So, Potter. I've finally got you figured out."

Harry blinked and turned from his dinner and conversation with Anthony to the voice. Harry looked at Draco standing there for a moment. "Excuse me?"

"I told you I would be watching you, Potter. I told you I would wring the information from your head if I had to, to find out what power you had." The Slytherin first year laughed. "But no, it didn't require that. It's your focus."

"What about it? You've known about if for almost two months. It's not like I'm trying to hide it." Harry said. _Anymore, at least._

"Yes, but a touch focus? They're weak. A wand is quicker and more precise. A great deal more precise than you, especially." Draco smirked.

"I'm getting there." Harry growled. "But what does it have to do with anything?"

"Everything, Potter." Draco sniffed at him. "Without it, I figure you would be nearly a Squib. I have no idea how you managed to get Potter's Folly, but only a mithril focus would work as an amplifier strong enough to bring a near Squib up to normal levels of magic. It would also explain why you have such a hard time controlling it. It's not really your magic, is it?"

The Ravenclaw table went quiet.

"Excuse me?" Harry asked.

_It would be better if you did not try to kill him, Harry._ Shiva added in. She seemed barely amused herself.

"The Potter family was very strong. I figure with the addition of your Mudblood mother to the mix, her child came out to be barely a Squib. The Folly is likely your family's safety net for worthless children, which is why none before you were able to get it. Though why any family would waste any amount of anything, much less mithril, on any squib child, I have no idea."

The insults stung, and together they were building Harry into quite a furor of his own.

Draco continued. "And furthermore-"

"Silence." Harry said, Commanding. Draco's mouth continued moving, but no sound came out of it.

"I didn't touch my armlet for that one, did I?" Harry asked. Draco couldn't answer, but that wasn't a surprise. "I'm not going to listen to you berate my mother, Draco."

"Potter!"

Harry groaned as Professor Snape seemed to almost just appear. "Twenty points from Ravenclaw and a detention with me tomorrow night for hexing another student." Snape's face seemed to be delighting in finding a reason to punish him.

Harry slumped in his seat. He'd spent the past two months memorizing anything and everything in Potions to stay at the 'barely tolerated Ravenclaw' level he'd managed to work himself up to with the Potions Master by always knowing the answer and turning in practically perfect assignments. Now, he'd be back to the 'purposely looking to fail you' level.

"Yes sir." Was all Harry answered with.

"Come along, Mr. Malfoy. There's no reason for you to stay to be antagonized by Potter any longer." Snape said. He then tapped his wand on Malfoy to end the spell. "_Finite_"

Harry turned and sat back down.

_And how much effort was that?_ Shiva asked.

Harry judged his magic. _About three times what the Float was? But I really, really wanted him to quit before I tried something bigger._

Shiva ignored the second part of his statement, though Harry could feel her amusement over it. _And was three times a large draw on your magic?_

_Not really._

"Potter!" Harry almost cringed at Professor Snape's yelling again, turning.

"Yes sir?"

Snape had returned with Draco, who was still unable to speak. "Remove whatever spell you cast on Mr. Malfoy, now."

Harry blinked. "Umm, I didn't cast it with my armlet or a wand. I'm not certain how to, sir. Last time this happened though, Professor McGonagall ended it with, um, Finite Incantatem."

"I have already done that, Potter. If you do not end it now, I will have you in front of the Headmaster this evening for expelling." Snape growled.

_My, how angry he gets. Give it another five minutes and it will be gone._ Shiva laughed.

"It should be timed, Professor. Five minutes and it will end. Other than that, I can promise you I do not know how to end it."

"Playing with magics you don't understand, Potter? That will be another fifteen points and you will bring me whatever you are researching for these, so I can ascertain it is not Dark magic." Snape scowled at him.

"It is not, Severus, and you will cease to threaten my students."

Snape spun around, finding Professor Flitwick behind him. The tiny mage flicked his wand over Draco. "If you will recall, Minerva told us that whatever his accidental magic is doing, it requires more power than normal to break it instead of just using the minimum required. So I think I will be returning those fifteen points you took."

Snape's face went white in his anger, before he stalked off, Draco quickly behind him. Flitwick then looked over the Ravenclaw table. "Is everything alright now?"

A large number of heads bobbed up and down quickly.

"I do hope it doesn't ruin the Halloween feast for you all." Flitwick smiled at the students, before returning to the faculty table. From there, he nodded to the Ravenclaw table while returning to a conversation he was having with Professor McGonagall. Though he could be seen to be watching his students occasionally now.

Harry felt the collective eyes of three quarters of the Ravenclaws on him, and likely the other three student tables as well. He dropped his face into his hands.

"I thought it was silver?" Harry heard an older student ask aloud. That seemed to be the catalyst as voices returned to normal, though Harry could hear almost every topic at his table had changed to discussions about him.

_I'm going to bang my head against the table now, until I fall unconscious. How long do you think it'd last?_ Harry asked.

_If you go unconscious, you realize they will probably try to view your armlet without even your permission, right?_ Shiva replied.

"Harry?" A female voice asked. Harry lifted his head up and saw it was the sixth year Ravenclaw Prefect. He couldn't remember her name offhand. "Do you think we could study it?" Around him, Harry could see almost hungry eyes on where his armlet sat from just about every Fourth year and above Ravenclaw.

_Oh god, this is what the Sorting Hat meant._ Harry realized.

Shiva just began laughing.

Harry looked down at his plate. It was pretty much empty. That was good. He then looked back up and prayed they would forgive him. " Not right now, I think I'm going to leave for a little while. But Padma and Hermione did a bit of research on it already, you could start with their findings?"

As Harry quickly stood up and backed off of the table, both Hermione and Padma threw him looks of dismay and betrayal. They didn't like being thrown to the Ravens either, apparently.

Harry quickly ran out of the Great Hall.

_So what will you do now, Harry?_ Shiva brought up the question.

Harry continued walking away from the Hall. _I can hide in my room, but eventually they'll pin me down there. Best bet is to get something done on the armlet on my own so that I can use that as a shield against Padma and Hermione._

Shiva appeared next to Harry, walking with him. _"Nothing like the fury of someone thrown to the wolves?_"

_Yeah. Do you know anything about the armlet I could tell them?_

"_I know a bit of how mithril can be used to channel magics from before, yes, but I do not think it will translate over to magic used now._" She answered.

Harry grinned. "It's something. They at least won't kill me if I give 'em something."

_Well, find something to write with and I will begin explaining._

"Yeah, all my stuff is in the tower…" Harry trailed off, looking around. "Wow, I really just wandered. I'm halfway across the school from the tower."

In the distance, Harry heard something like a cannon shot. "Huh, wonder what that was?"

Harry quickly began the walk back to the tower when he heard something scrapping along the floor in the corridor in front of him. Turning the corner, Harry looked up. And up. It was bigger than Hagrid, green, and was not looking very happy at all.

"_Troll. How interesting."_ Shiva said.

The troll bellowed, and the club in its hand swung up and then down as Harry dove out of the way. "What the hell?" Harry yelled.

"_You might want to take care of this, before it actually manages to hurt you."_ Shiva said, watching the thing.

"You think?" Harry said, scrambling back to his feet. "I don't know anything to do that though!"

"_You know the Command spells, do you not? Try them."_

"Huh?" Harry almost paused, before realizing that was a bad idea. "Seriously? Now? I've never tried them before!"

"_No time like the present. At worst, you can summon me and I will bind it in enough ice that we may leave to find one of your professors."_

"Fine!" Harry quickly dodged the lumbering troll's attack once more, his eyes wide. _My will bends the magic to my demand_, Harry remembered the explanation. It was kosher with what had happened during dinner, silencing Draco.

Harry put his mind into the idea of ice and storms, remembering what Shiva's Diamond Dust had looked like. "Blizzard!" he yelled, and around the troll a small winter storm appeared for a moment. The troll bellowed once more, as the localized storm pelted it with hail, sleet, and ice before vanishing.

The troll looked confused, and Harry just kinda stared at it. Its skin was pockmarked with many bruises, scrapes, and cuts but nothing dangerous. In fact, it actually looked like it was already healing.

And then the troll swung again and Harry fell backwards.

"_How much magic did that take?"_ Shiva asked calmly, still watching.

"What? You want to know that now?" Harry called, scooting back as the club tried to land on him again.

"_I am still trying to determine your affinity with Command magic, remember?"_

Harry got up and ran a bit, yanking at a suit of armor. It fell on the floor, its halberd falling and cutting into the troll which bellowed once more, yanking the weapon out of its arm.

"A tenth of it. Five times more than the Silence!" Harry yelled and ducked as the club flew over his head, cracking the wall.

Shiva nodded, frowning as she looked at the damage to the wall. _"Alright, I think it is done trying to play with you now. Try Fire, from what I know, scars do not heal on trolls, and you do not have acid to retard the healing."_

_It was playing with me before? Crap._ Harry turned and looked at the troll once more, and thought of it burning, thinking of the fire that Fawkes had. "Fire!"

Flames washed over the troll, skin crackling and cooking as Harry tried to hold in his stomach from the stench. All too quickly though, the flames faded.

"_A tenth as well, or more or less?"_ Shiva asked, her eyes riveted to the unmoving, but still standing troll.

_The same._ Harry answered, his eyes not leaving the troll either.

"_Interesting. You are not borrowing my affinity then, you have one of your own._"

There was a great roar, and the troll moved again, half cooked skin ripping as it swung its club. Harry didn't quite move out of the way in time and was clipped, violently thrown back.

"_HARRY!"_ Shiva yelled. _"CALL ME!"_

Harry looked up blearily at the troll, which had raised its club once more, and down it fell. Harry fumbled in his mind, letting magic flow from his gem. _"[Shiva-_

The club landed, but not on Harry. There were arms around him, Harry couldn't quite understand it. Looking up, he saw Shiva's face in pain as ice shattered around her. "OK?" She asked in a whisper.

Harry barely blinked, but nodded. She'd taken a hit for him, a big one. That would have killed him, and probably should have killed her.

Shiva stood then, turning to face the troll, and Harry saw the damage as ice shards fell from her back and a little liquid he thought might be her blood flowing from her.

"Fira"

And the troll burned, as flames three times as strong as the ones before covered the troll, crawling inside wounds to burn it from the inside out. Shiva whipped her head around to see Harry's eyes staring murder at the troll, before he slumped, barely holding onto consciousness.

As the flame died out, Shiva turned to the burned husk of the beast. "Blizzaga." She Commanded, and the depths of a stygian winter froze the corpse, ice sealing its body.

"Phoenix." Shiva called. "Bring his Headmaster here, now."

It was only a moment before a flash of fire appeared, carrying with it Fawkes and Dumbledore. "What is so important, Fawkes…" the Headmaster trailed off, seeing the destroyed troll, the semi-unconscious Harry, and Shiva.

"What was this thing doing here?" Shiva asked.

"I have no idea. Professor Quirrel ran into the hall yelling about one in the dungeons. We'd sent the students back their dorms and were looking for it." Dumbledore stated. "I wish I knew how it got in."

"Harry took a glancing blow from it, before I managed to step in. Bruises and shock are the worst of it, I think."

Harry by now had managed to sit himself up. "Are you ok, Shiva?"

She turned her head back to him and nodded. "Yes, thank you." She then looked back at Dumbledore again. "Take care of Harry, I went a bit overboard ensuring it was dead, even after Harry burned it down."

With that, Shiva vanished again, this time without even any ice or snow to mark her passing.

Dumbledore looked at Harry and then at the troll, before looking back to Harry. "Let's get you to the Hospital Wing, Harry my boy. Once Madam Pomfrey looks you over, I'd like to hear of this. But for commendable action in protecting the school, I think thirty points to Ravenclaw. Even if you were acting more like a Gryffindor." The headmaster smiled.

Harry staggered to his feet, leaning against a wall. "Not by choice, sir."

Dumbledore waved his wand and a crutch appeared. Harry sunk onto it. "Would you rather be levitated?" he offered.

"Actually, yes sir, I would. I'm really dizzy right now."

* * *

So, read and review!


	10. Out of and into Harm's Way

A/N: Yesterday was the day of studying. ITIL v3 test today, plus homework. So I didn't get any writing done. So, you get this nice chapter today.

* * *

Harry was only vaguely aware of being put into a bed and someone fussing over him.

"Albus, I do not think I have ever dealt with a case of such acute magic exhaustion." Harry heard a female voice say.

"I am not surprised, Madam. I found him nearly passed out over an immolated troll." The headmaster replied.

There was silence for a moment. "Excuse me? Are you trying to tell me that a first year managed to burn a troll, that shouldn't have been in the castle to begin with, to the point that your best description for it is immolated?"

"Yes."

Harry fought falling asleep as covers were pulled over him and he heard the woman sigh.

"Headmaster, it will likely take at least another twelve hours before his magic recovers on its own enough that any potions I have will render their full effect." The same ladies voice again as he woke up.

Harry managed to peel his eyes open enough at that to blearily see the Headmaster speaking with someone in a white robe.

The lady looked over at Harry and frowned. "I see you are awake. I'm actually shocked, you should be sleeping until you actually recover some of your magic, Mr. Potter."

Harry tried to smile at her, but couldn't find the energy to do so.

Dumbledore turned to look at Harry as well, smiling. "Listen to Madam Pomfrey, Harry. She is looking out for your best interests."

Harry didn't really have much room to argue, as the act of laying on the soft bed was drawing him into slumber anyways. As the adrenaline faded from him, Harry slipped into sleep.

The matron looked at the sleeping boy before turning to the Headmaster. "Albus..." She trailed off, not knowing what to actually ask him.

The Headmaster just smiled at her, a twinkle in his eye.

* * *

Harry woke with a start, almost jumping into a sitting position in the bed as he looked around. The multiple beds and clean smell were odd, before he vaguely remembered what had happened.

_Are you feeling better, Harry?_ Shiva's voice was a welcome one.

_Yeah, somewhat._ He answered her back. _You?_

_I was not in any danger. Though you were, and I apologize for not taking the danger as serious as I should._

Harry's mind flashed back to the wounds Shiva had had.

_Physical wounds do not remain when that magically built body vanishes._

"So we're all good then." Harry finally said out loud.

"We, Mr. Potter?" A voice asked. Harry looked up and saw someone in a white dress. "Your glasses are on the stand next to you."

Harry fumbled for the glasses before putting them on. The someone sharpened and Harry recognized Madam Pomfrey. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Pomfrey stood over him, her wand moving in a complex maneuver. "You're finally on the road to recovery, Mr. Potter. What made you think you could fight a troll?" As she asked this, she took a potion from a shelf near the bed and handed it to him. "Drink this."

Harry shrugged to her question before drinking the offered potion and nearly gagged. "Bleh, what is this?"

"It is a type of nutritional potion. It will kickstart your system to make you heal quicker." Pomfrey told him.

"Does it have to taste like week old socks?" Harry stuck his tongue out, trying to scrape the roof of his mouth to remove the taste.

"I can ensure the potions taste worse every time you have to come in here, if you would like." Madam Pomfrey offered.

Harry shook his head.

Pomfrey smiled at him. "I expected as much. Now, you're going to rest for two more hours and then I have another potion for you. Then you can return to your tower."

* * *

When Harry entered the Ravenclaw common room, he expected several things. For one, he expected that his two friends would likely beat him about head and shoulders for abandoning them.

That didn't happen.

He expected the study group that was the first year Ravenclaws to demand to know why they hadn't gotten to study the Folly either.

He was lucky enough that that did not manifest either.

However, the worst of his expectations was that pretty much the entire tower would now want to study Potter's Folly, which indirectly meant him.

When the door opened, Harry realized that at least that expectation had been met. Upwards of a hundred students of all the years were in the common room. As they looked up at the door opening, Harry was actually shocked when a light clapping started.

It built and died quickly though, as Penelope walked forward. "Alright. Since I'm the one that got tagged for helping the First Years this year, I also got elected for this."

"First." She began. "Congratulations on the troll. The teachers were trying to keep to a secret, so obviously everyone found out about it. Though they did manage to keep how you got rid of it a secret." She frowned at that. "Would you be willing to explain?"

"Dodging and lots of fire?" Harry offered.

"Cute." Penelope smiled. "We'll shelve that question to move on to more important things. Padma and Hermione," Penelope waved to where the girls were sitting with the rest of the first years, "were quite willing to explain what little they knew about Potter's Folly. The rest of the House would like to get into this little research party as well. The House can likely do a large amount of the research without needing to interrupt you, but would you be willing to let us study the Folly?"

_Is it wrong that I'm glad they want to study the Folly and not know about the troll?_ Harry thought.

_That is your decision, Harry._

Harry smiled and nodded, and he could also see the eyes of everyone start zeroing in on his arm. "One condition." Harry stated, causing a few looks. "If anyone finds any mention of a place called the Throne of Ice, I want to know about it."

_Thank you, Harry._ Shiva's mental voice was filled with gratitude. _I am not certain that they will find anything, but I do thank you for that request._

Penelope turned and took a headcount of the people nodding to Harry's request, before she turned back to him once more. "Done. Now, if you don't mind, you've been out of the Tower for almost an entire day. We've had plenty of time to study up on a few warding and enchantment diagnostic charms, so if you'll give us the next few hours, I think we can get a good start."

* * *

Harry actually managed to make it out of the common room in only two hours, but only for the simple fact that he had a detention to make it to. He fairly well raced out of the tower and towards the dungeon.

Ten minutes later found him skidding to a halt at the door to the Potions classroom. Taking a few deep breaths to calm down from the run and for the detention ahead, Harry opened the door.

Professor Snape was sitting at his desk, and to Harry it looked like he was grading an assignment. Snape looked up at the door and gave Harry a cold smile.

"You're late, Potter. Come here." He pointed with his quill to the front of his desk.

Harry nodded and walked forward, standing where he was told to. He was caught offguard when a large rag hit him in the face. Pulling it off, he looked at the potions teacher. "Professor?"

"Clean the floors, Potter. I want the flagstones in here clean enough to eat off of. The rag is enchanted to stay clean. You'll have to provide the effort to actually get the floors clean." Snape went back to the paper he was working on.

Harry looked at the rag and shrugged. "Yes sir."

Harry walked over to a corner of the room and dropped to his knees and began scrubbing the stone floor with the rag. It was almost twenty minutes of hard scrubbing on the flagstone before Harry thought it looked clean enough. It had gone from an old potion soaked, soot covered black rock to a fairly even shade of gray stone. Harry continued on and managed for an hour, getting all of a tenth of the room back to the gray stone it had originally been.

As he was working on expanding that gray, Harry didn't notice Snape come up behind him. "What do you think you are doing, Potter?"

Harry turned around. "Sir?"

Snape pointed with his wand at the first stone Harry had cleaned. "Scourgify" and a white bolt hit the flagstone. Harry blinked as the gray faded into an off white color. "The flagstones are charmed to that color. It does not surprise me that you cannot even clean appropriately. Pitiful magic, and you wouldn't even do well as Filch's apprentice."

"Sorry." Harry apologized, not really feeling it himself.

"You're here for another two hours, Potter. I expect to see at least some degree of competence in your cleaning ability by then." Snape then turned and Harry watched as he limped back to his desk, favoring one leg.

Harry gave a confused look to Snape's back, but didn't say anything. The Potions professor was obviously not in a good mood.

So Harry spent the next two hours scrubbing flagstones.

He managed to get one more that offwhite color.

* * *

A couple of days later Harry trudged out into the cold of the early November winds towards the Quidditch Pitch, a bright smile on his face, with most of the rest of his house.

Flying lessons had been going easily for the past month, though oddly quiet considering it was the only class that had the Gryffindors in it. Madam Hooch had said he was a natural on any broom which had led him to going to the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.

They'd been impressed with his flying ability too, but none of the school brooms were good enough to field at a Quidditch match. Harry's mind had immediately gone to the gold in his vault, but ran into the rule against first years having their own brooms. _Stupid rule. Why in the world would it be bad if I had my own broom?_

_You continue the flying lessons, though Madam Hooch says you could skip them if you wanted. You have seen people like Hermione and the Gryffindor boy, Dean, on brooms. You would be able to outfly them by walking._

Harry laughed to himself at that, drawing a couple of odd looks from his housemates. Harry just grinned towards the Quidditch stadium they were heading towards.

So instead, Harry had been given fairly free reign on the Quidditch pitch while Madam Hooch worked with the others, allowing him to have the sheer pleasure of flight whenever he could. The first Quidditch match had been between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, and Harry had enjoyed watching it, though he found he'd irritated the Ravenclaw seeker by finding the Snitch before he could.

Even if Harry couldn't catch it, finding the tiny golden ball was the object of the game.

From what Harry understood though, there was a huge rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin, which would make this match a lot more exciting. Harry grinned again, thinking of the fouls and the Bludgers.

As they got into the Ravenclaw section of the stands, Harry nudged Hermione who was already sitting, nose deep into a book. "Come on, Hermione. What's the point of coming out here if you're not going to pay attention to the game?"

Hermione looked up from her book and gave Harry a look. "Believe it or not, I've gotten used to everyone being around while I work on something in the common room. It's too empty when everyone is out here."

Harry raised an eyebrow at her as she went back to her reading.

Padma clucked her tongue at Hermione, but several of the others just laughed. "You've managed to not get sucked into carrying a book with you at all times, but it's coming." Roger added.

Harry looked at him. "You're not carrying one." He accused.

"I'm watching the competition." Roger stated calmly. "As one of the Chasers, I want to know how the other teams Beaters play, and this will probably be one of the roughest games of the year."

"True." Harry answered the third year, before turning back to the field where the Gryffindors were just flying in after the Slytherins.

Harry could hear Lee Jordan announcing the game from the announcer's box between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff section of the stands.

"And for the Gryffindors, we have Captain and Keeper, Oliver Wood!" Between each name, Lee gave the crowd, Gryffindor most of all, a chance to roar their approval.

"The Weasley Beater twins, Forge and Gred!"

"Mr. Jordan, use their actual names please." Professor McGonagall's stern voice corrected him.

Lee laughed at that. "Fred and George then. If you can tell who is who, let me know. Following behind them are Chasers Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson, and Katie Bell! And new Seeker for Gryffindor is Kenneth Towler!"

Madam Hooch floated up into the air between the two teams and Harry watched as Oliver and the Slytherin captain Marcus Flint came up to her. The two shook hands, though when they broke up Harry saw Oliver shaking his hand like Marcus had been crushing it.

The quaffle and bludgers were released alongside the snitch. The golden ball quickly vanished as it exited the chest while the bludgers immediately took to the air in an attempt to smash into someone. Madam Hooch threw the quaffle up and the game began.

Harry kept as close as watch on the game as Roger, though Roger watched the Beaters while Harry took a more overall view of the game. It was as hectic as promised, with the Slytherin Beaters attempting to hammer the Gryffindor Chasers with the bludgers every chance they got. The Weasley twins had taken the same opportunity and were trying to abuse the Slytherins, but Harry noticed that there were more fouls being called on the Slytherins.

It had the effect of putting Gryffindor into the lead by a bit, but he knew that if the Chasers starting getting hurt, it wouldn't leave them ahead for long.

Harry blinked and ducked as the Slytherin Seeker nearly clipped him before climbing once more. "What the hell?" Harry asked.

Flint seemed to be almost wrestling with his broom even more than he had been, before returning to his hunt.

"Why the hell did I get divebombed?" Harry asked.

"Snitch?" Roger offered, looking at the first year for the first time in twenty or thirty minutes.

Harry shook his head. "Lee didn't call it either." He looked around. "Dammit!" he yelled, actually dropping onto the floor of the stands as this time Alicia came spinning into the stands, forcing not just Harry but several of the Ravenclaws to get out of the way or get plowed into.

Alicia came to a complete halt, staring at the handle of her broom, before looking at the others. "It just took off, mind of its own." Alicia smacked the broom handle, before rising back up. "Sorry 'bout that." She flew off.

Harry climbed back to his feet a moment ago, looking at the field. "What am I, a broom target?" He asked rhetorically.

"Maybe." Roger laughed as Hermione dusted herself and her book off. "If you are, could you move a bit? I don't mind the game, but I don't want to be one of the players." She asked.

Harry grinned. Returning to watch the field for the Snitch, he was pleased when there wasn't another broom looking to go after him immediately.

The game continued on, with Alicia and Katie both getting injured to the point where it was hard for them to hang onto their brooms. This gave Slytherin the chance to start racking up points as both Seekers continued looking for the Snitch.

Roger looked at Harry as he started chuckling. "What's up?"

"Found it." Harry smiled. "It's up against the wall next to Hufflepuff."

Roger looked across the field and whistled. "Your eyes are damn good, why do you wear glasses?" He asked, as a few other Ravenclaws started looking towards the Hufflepuff stands.

"I can't see a thing up close without them."

"Watch out, Ravenclaws!" Lee's voice boomed. "Has Kenneth spotted the Snitch? He's high diving straight into the Ravenclaw stands!"

Harry's eyes immediately went skyward. Kenneth had been circling the pitch for a while now, and had gotten pretty high trying to get a view of the entire field. But he couldn't have seen the snitch, not when Harry had found where it was.

_Get out of the way! His broom is aiming at you, Harry!_ Shiva's voice interrupted his thoughts.

Harry dove out of the way at the last second and saw Kenneth roll on the broom, angling his landing instead of coming down headfirst. He shuddered as the stands did as well.

"Oh Merlin!" Lee's almost horrified groan came out loud over the pitch. "Is he alive?"

Quite a number of students were digging into the broken wood, trying to get to Kenneth while a few helped pick Harry up. As the wood came free, Harry went white as he saw Kenneth. His left shoulder seemed to be bent a bit and his arm hung limply at his side as students gently pulled him up. Amazingly, he still held onto his broom.

The Gryffindor boy tried to push the others aside. "Gotta find the Snitch."

Harry looked at him, shaking his head, before looking back to the Hufflepuff stands where the Snitch was still merrily dancing around the badger paw. "What happened?" he asked the Seeker.

"Broom decided to nosedive." He coughed and then bit his lip in pain. "Gotta finish the game though, doesn't end till it does."

Harry had thought that was a good rule up until this point. "You're seriously going to continue flying?" The rest of the Ravenclaws seemed to agree with Harry, not wanting to let him go.

Kenneth nodded.

"It's flying around the Hufflepuff stands, by the badger. Try not to crash into it." Harry answered. He then winced as several of his housemates gave him glares. "Hey, his choice. I'm trying to help end the game."

"Thanks, Harry." Kenneth took a step forward and shuddered, before putting his broom underneath him with his good arm.

"I have no idea how you're going to catch it, but if the Slytherins do, at least you're getting off the field quicker." Hermione chimed in, her face pale as she watched the crazy Gryffindor.

"Won't let 'em." Was Kenneth's last words as he wobbled into the air.

_Get off the stands before anything else decides to attack you, please._ Shiva asked.

_Nothing nearby, and I want to see if he can actually pull this off._ Harry responded, his eyes watching Kenneth.

The air shimmered next to Harry as Shiva appeared, sitting on the edge of the stands. _"Then I am going to watch out for you. I say move, you move immediately, understand me?"_

Harry nodded.

"Somehow, Kenneth is out of the stands and back into the air, everyone." Lee's voice was awed. "I'm not sure how though, and I bet Madam Pomfrey is going to be having a few choice words with him when he comes down."

Harry watched as Kenneth made a beeline for the Hufflepuff stands.

"No wonder he got back on his broom. Kenneth's seen the Snitch!" Lee announced.

The Snitch though, refused to be caught so easily and started flying away as Marcus started flying towards the Gryffindor seeker.

Kenneth leaned onto his broom, nearly laying down as he wrapped his good arm around the handle and flew at breakneck speeds around the pitch, Marcus slowly closing the gap. The Slytherin was just about on top of Kenneth as the Snitch flew down towards the Ravenclaw's stands.

After three hits already, even the dullest of people will see the pattern, and the Ravenclaws were some of the smarter students. There was a mass evacuation as the Snitch and two Seekers barreled near the stands.

Harry wanted to hang back to watch the catch, but he knew it wouldn't be a good idea either and he ran to get off the stands as well.

Lee's announcement was a blessing though. "Kenneth has the Snitch!" There was a slight pause as the Ravenclaws slowed their evacuation. "Neither Seeker is slowing down though! They're going to crash into the stands!"

Cue panic, as the Ravenclaws nearly dove off of the stands at that, just as Kenneth broke through a wall with his broom, the handle and now the hand holding the Snitch shattered and he fell onto the stand floors.

Harry turned at the explosion of wood, wincing as he saw Kenneth fall. Unfortunately, he saw Marcus wrestling his broom as it managed to go above the stand wall, before diving at Harry.

The end of the broom handle looked like a spear to Harry, as he watched in almost morbid fascination as Marcus' face was white with effort as he tried to pull the broom away from its dead run at Harry's chest.

"_HARRY POTTER, **MOVE!**" _Shiva shouted as he felt the air freeze around him, frost covering himself and Marcus. Thought moved much faster than spoken word. _"I CANNOT CAST AN EFFECT STRONG ENOUGH TO STOP HIM!"_

And in the half second distance between himself and the broom, Harry knew he didn't have time to dodge, either.

* * *

Aww, look. A cliffhanger. Three guesses as to why the brooms went nutzoid, and the first two don't count. Let me know what you think of the chapter.


	11. Reactions to Harm

A/N: Kinda short, but beyond the reaction to the last chapter, there's not much to cover here. I'm probably going to stretch out to every other day posting, with the possibility of faster chapters than that.

* * *

Time seemed to slow down for Harry as the broom came closer. His muscles began to bunch to leap away, but it would not be enough.

"_HASTE!"_ Shiva's voice echoed through him, and Harry understood what she meant. The Command spell meant to speed up a person and their reactions. She might even have been trying to Command it herself, but she had told him that she could only use ice magics unless summoned.

Harry opened his mouth to Command the same, when he felt two pressures on him. One seemed to grab him and yank, while the other was pressure against his chest. Fear filled him as he thought it was the broom, and he was sent flying off the remaining portion of the Ravenclaw stands.

In front of his flying body, Harry saw Marcus jerk backwards along with his broom at the same time as they were pulled apart.

Something Harry had found interesting in his flying lessons was he always knew where the ground was, while in the air. It came in handy now, as he could feel the ground rushing up at him, but whatever was pulling on his back was keeping him moving more horizontal to the ground than he should have been falling.

Harry concentrated on himself as he fell. His mind was somehow clear, though he should have been panicking. "Float!"

The pull on his back faded as the Command took effect and Harry shook as his altitude dropped sharply, but he landed on thin air instead of the ground and bobbed there for a moment.

Shiva was suddenly in his vision, peering at his chest intently. _"No damage, thank the heavens."_ She proclaimed, her voice almost weak with relief. _"Do you feel alright, Harry? You realize what just happened?"_

People were starting to gather around Harry, who still hovered almost two feet off the ground. Harry barely noticed them as he nodded to Shiva. "Someone just tried to kill me."

"I do not believe someone would make a direct attempt on your life, Mr. Potter." The Headmaster's voice said, and Harry looked up to find himself facing the old man. Harry scrambled to his feet, only to come up face to face with the man.

Harry looked down and realized he was still floating under the Command spell. He cut it, gently drifting back to the ground. "Sir, the Gryffindor Seeker nearly went through me, only for both Seekers to try it again afterwards."

"I realize that happened, Mr. Potter, but do you believe them capable of trying to kill you?" The headmaster had a disappointed tone in his voice.

"No." Harry shook his head. "Both Kenneth and Alicia were complaining about their brooms having a mind of their own."

The twinkle in Dumbledore's eye faded a bit. "Brooms are highly protected from external influence, Harry."

"Mr. Flint's broom's Anti-Hex charm is almost completely shattered. Miss Spinnet's doesn't look much better." A voice broke through the crowd, and it parted to show Professor Flitwick being followed by the two in question. "As for Mr. Towler's broom, it's been shattered to the point that I cannot test it. Madam Pomfrey is currently looking after him."

Flitwick gave Harry a good looking over. "Are you alright, Mr. Potter? It was entirely too close hitting you with that Banisher. I saw the pull and realize at least one of your housemates managed a Summoner as well."

Harry nodded, touching his chest. That's what had hit him, not the broom piercing him. Thank God, or Merlin, or whoever might be listening.

"_I will pass it along should I see one of them."_ Shiva said sarcastically. _"However, there will be no luck next time. I had not realized how dangerous this castle was, and you are nowhere near strong enough at the moment to decisively end a threat like this again."_

"Someone was jinxing the brooms, Filius?" Dumbledore asked his Charms professor.

The short man nodded seriously.

Dumbledore looked disturbed.

"I'm going to return the favor." Harry said calmly, adrenaline fading finally and watched curiously as his hands shook.

He got a number of stares from teachers and students alike.

"You're going to hex whoever did this, Potter?" Flint asked.

Harry looked at the Slytherin. "No one hexed me, they tried to kill me." He then looked to the teachers. "May I be excused? I'd like to head back to my room now."

Dumbledore waved his wand over Harry, nodding. "You appear in good enough health, Mr. Potter. I won't keep you."

* * *

Harry sat in a transfigured beanbag chair looking out the window that Professor Flitwick had made for him as his freebie room Charm, while Shiva had appeared sitting on Harry's bed.

"I nearly died." Harry stated, his eyes distant as he watched the mountains.

"_And I was not powerful enough, when not in a physical form."_ Shiva sighed. _"How much of your magic is tied up in holding the Esper body for me?"_

"Fifty percent. How can I do it with less?" Harry asked, eyes still not leaving the window.

"_Command magic and Summoning require the same amount of magic regardless. The magic required for creating an Esper body grows with your ability, as it also gives me more to work with, but I did not realize the requirement was so high on you. It is your reserves that need to become larger for Command magic, and your other magic as well."_

"Blizzard, Fire, Esper body, and then Fira." Harry listed. "Fira was three times the power required of Fire. I literally used everything I had against that troll. I need to get stronger. Whoever tried to kill me won't be stopped by a few spells." Harry sighed.

"_Experience increases your power. As you learn and grow, so too does your magic and your capacity for casting." _Shiva told him. _"Alternately, since the core of your magic appears to somehow be related to a Materia, draining and regenerating it will increase the amount you may hold as well."_

"Because it's a gem like your Materia?" Harry finally drug his eyes from the window, looking at Shiva. "But I'm not one of your people. How?"

"_I do not know, and truly I find it a blessing for you. It gives you additional options, and that is something you need now with someone trying to kill you."_ Shiva frowned. _"I wish I could control more than my ice magics like this, but I cannot focus power and Command without a physical presence._

"And I can't just give you your body and let you stay physical?" Harry offered.

Shiva shook her head, standing. _"No. It would tie up too much of your magic, and not offer enough benefits for doing so, currently. Perhaps once your reserves are not drained so heavily for a single Command spell."_

Harry sighed, but nodded. "What Command should I use to spend magic then? I don't think Professor Flitwick or the other professors would be happy if I started burning or freezing everything."

"_Haste. It lasts a few minutes when applied to yourself and should use a fairly large portion of your magic. I would not suggest using it on your friends and classmates though. You would likely find yourself inundated with requests for the effect."_

"Oh?" Harry looked at Shiva curiously.

"_Use it and see for yourself."_

Shrugging, Harry did so. He focused and then spoke. "Haste." A fairly large amount of magic surged from him, and Harry felt his gem fade a bit as magic left it, as much as the second stage Fira had cost him.

At first, he didn't see the reasoning for it. Looking at Shiva, he gave her a quizzical look.

"_Drop something."_ She suggested.

Harry shrugged and picked up a book from his desk and dropped it back on the table. He blinked a few times as it seemed to only slowly fall. Once it hit the table, he watched an inkpot shake slowly.

"_It is not something that can be explained, only seen. Your perceptions, reactions, and general speed are heightened, though it only lasts for minutes. What might be three to four minutes of reading a book would be thrice that otherwise."_ Shiva explained._ "It is dependent on your usage, however. In something like a fight, or what happened earlier today, the magic would spend quicker, giving you perhaps only thirty seconds as you spend it reacting."_

Harry grinned, walking around the room poking things and watching the slow reactions. "What if I throw something?"

"_It retains the natural speed it is moving at. Be careful not to strain yourself. Something you throw will gain odd weight as you are putting more force than you realize behind it. Throw something you can only barely pick up and it is likely to break your arm."_

Harry nodded and felt the Command magic on him end. "Keep going, I guess. Wear out and rest." Harry Commanded again, and continued.

* * *

Harry was very careful for the next two months, almost to the point of paranoia, whenever he left the Ravenclaw common room, though no one could really blame him for it.

No further attacks had happened and it only raised both Harry and Shiva's paranoia until it finally peaked and they settled a bit. Harry was always careful to not use all of his magic until the evening when he wouldn't be leaving the tower for the rest of the night. He needed his magic during the day anyways for classes.

Finally though, the Christmas holidays were fast approaching. Professor Flitwick let Harry know the offer was open to return to his home for the holidays, but the professor knew he would be rebuked and wasn't surprised when he was.

The tower did get pretty lonely though, when it was only him and Padma from the first years, and only a few of the older students.

Harry was thankful, however, that one of the older Ravenclaws was a boy when he was talking with Padma about homework and his voice broke for the first time. Harry had been confused when the older year took him aside and gave him a quick rundown, before dropping him off with Madam Pomfrey for the young wizard's book.

After that, Harry was embarrassed every time his voice broke a bit.

Shiva thought the whole thing hilarious, but graciously vanished during his conversation with Madam Pomfrey.

* * *

He was eating a quiet lunch in the Great Hall when three redheads dropped into the seats next to him. The youngest looked a bit uncomfortable. Harry looked at them, noting their Gryffindor colors.

"So, Harry Potter." One of the older boys said, before the other picked it up. "How are you?"

"Fine..." Harry slowly said. He recognized the older two as the beater twins Fred and George Weasley. "Can I help you?"

The first twin smiled. "No, the question is, how"

"Can we help you?" his brother finished.

The younger one groaned. "I was complaining about being the only first year at the school in Gryffindor for the holiday. My brothers here decided that they'd help me by 'finding another ikle firstie for Ronnie to play with' as they put it."

"So I was elected?" Harry looked between his yearmate and the twins.

"It was either you, the girl in Ravenclaw, or one of the two Slytherins. No one from Hufflepuff stayed." One of the twins shrugged.

Harry looked at their brother and offered his hand. "You know, suddenly I'm glad I don't have older siblings."

The boy grinned. "I'm Ron. And you sure you don't want a couple? I've got five, so I can give you a couple to try out." He shook Harry's hand.

The twins' eyes lit up.

"No." Harry stated.

"So... Do you play Wizard's Chess?" Ron asked.

Harry nodded. "They run a tournament in Ravenclaw, so I've learned the basics."

Now Ron's eyes lit up, and the twins laughed and wandered off. "Really? Wish I could play in it, not many in Gryffindor play. You wanna play?"

* * *

Christmas morning was just another morning, as far as Harry was concerned. He'd never gotten any real presents from anyone and this year the present to himself was not having to be around his aunt and uncle while Dudley loudly counted the number of presents that were for him.

So Harry could be forgiven for missing the two small packages sitting festively on his desk as he grabbed his clothes and robe and headed for the boy's shower. Afterwards, he headed down to the common room and wished Padma a Merry Christmas.

"What did you get?" He asked, curious as he watched Padma poke and prod at a lightly shimmering box with her wand. As she did so, images flickered above it.

"A puzzle box from Professor Flitwick. He left a note that there's chocolate inside it." Padma smiled at the thought, and Harry smiled uncertainly back. "As several of the older years have already left with open boxes, I assume you opened yours?"

Harry's smile became even more uncertain. "Um.."

Padma looked away from her box at Harry. "What?"

"I didn't expect to get anything. Where would it be?" Harry rushed out.

Padma stared at him for a very, very long moment. "The worst sort of Muggles?" She asked, quoting Professor McGonagall's words from months ago.

Harry stiffly nodded.

"Somewhere easily seen in your room, if it was like mine." Padma answered.

Harry turned. "I'll go look." He walked back across the common room and then looked at Padma. "Thanks." He whispered, before going upstairs.

_More and more, I find I dislike this family of yours terribly. _Shiva spoke. _I am not certain of this holiday, but I wish you the best on it._

_Thanks, Shiva._ Harry smiled slightly as he walked into his room, looking around before his eyes landed on his desk. "Two?"

The first was a small box wrapped in blue and bronze that Harry opened, finding a puzzlebox much like Padma's. There was a note attached to it.

_Merry Christmas, Mr. Potter. I always give a small gift to my students stuck in this drafty castle over the holiday break. Puzzle your way to chocolate._

_-Professor Flitwick_

Harry smiled and looked at his own puzzle. On it was a set of Quidditch hoops and the top portion of the box had a scoreboard and a quaffle next to it. As he shook the box slightly, the quaffle fell from its perch to the next side of the puzzle box.

"Neat. I'll have to thank Professor Flitwick."

The second package was a bit bigger and was done in red and gold, Gryffindor colors. Opening the soft package, Harry was surprised when a silvery cloak unfolded. A note was included with this one as well, but it had no name and the handwriting was unfamiliar.

_Harry,_

_Your father left this in my keeping before he passed away. As he was a Gryffindor, I thought it appropriate to wrap it in his colors. I hope it serves you as well as it did him._

Harry let the note drop and stared at the cloak in his other hand. "My father's?" He touched it with his other hand, running it over the smooth fabric. Harry had a watery grin on his face. "Thank you, whoever."

Swinging the cloak around him for a moment, he let it settle over his shoulders. "Fits at least."

_Let me see how it looks on you, before you say that._ Shiva's voice was soft as she spoke, before appearing.

"So, how does it look?" Harry asked her.

"_I could not tell you."_ Shiva's voice had gone from quiet to shocked. _"I cannot see the parts of your body covered. Bring up the hood."_

Harry did so, and he saw Shiva's eyes widen. _"You disappeared completely. Only by the fact that you wear my Materia and I saw you vanish do I know where you stand."_

Harry's grin turned sharp. "Now, if only I knew who I was looking for."

Harry pulled the cloak off and gently folded it up, putting it into his trunk. "You're my secret weapon." He said to it.

* * *

If you're curious about numbers, during Harry's little test of Haste you could say the number for his magic is 100. With the constant practice, he's gotten to 115 by Christmas.

I'll let you guys figure out the numbers if you're that curious.


	12. Everyone's Desires

A/N: This chapter was hard. I know what I needed to run through the Mirror, but Harry's changed enough that just seeing his parents is no longer his true heart's desire. Inquisitiveness has been worked into him a bit.

Also, I noticed something interesting. The chapter that pushed this over a 40k word count got me a whole bunch of new people putting this on alert. Coincidentally, that's also the next filter level. We'll see if the same thing happens at 60k.

* * *

It was a couple days later when Harry was walking from the Ravenclaw Tower to the library when his usual path there was interrupted.

Stopping, Harry looked. "It's not Tuesday." He said, puzzled. So what was a new door doing here?

Harry looked down the corridor, checking. "Left from the tower, second corridor on the right. Go down to the second door on the left for the staircase and ask nicely to go through." But the door he usually went through was further down the hallway.

Now, a door of heavy oak stood here. "Wall pretending to be a door?" Harry wondered outloud, remembering one of the older students warning about such a thing.

Curiosity prickled at Harry, and seeing as how he was only going to the library to cure boredom by getting a book, this worked just as well for doing so. Lifting the latch on the door, Harry pulled on it, half expecting nothing to happen.

_Well, it's not a wall pretending to be a door._ Harry grinned as the door swung open.

_Which is a very odd thing to do with magic anyways._ Shiva answered him.

Stepping inside the new room, Harry felt disappointed. A single room, fairly large but almost completely empty save a rather large standing mirror, angled away from the entry door. Looking around, there was only the single door he'd entered as a way out of the room.

"_Curiosity satisfied, Harry?_" Shiva appeared in front of Harry.

"Yeah, I guess. Though I wonder why a room with a mirror would just be here." Harry nodded, looking at the mirror. He could see the reflection of part of the room in it.

"_I do not know."_ Shiva answered him, moving towards the front of the mirror. _"It is a nice... By all that is Holy!"_ Shiva's mental voice shouted as she stepped fully in front of it. _"I can see my actual reflection! And the Throne of Ice?"_ Shiva's voice was now filled with a hint of wonder.

Harry watched as she reached out to touch the mirror.

"_It is not a portal, and my reflection does not follow my movements."_ She motioned to Harry. _"Come see, this is where I must go."_

"More interesting that I thought, I guess." Harry nodded and walked around the mirror, standing in front of it fully and looking around Shiva, before frowning. "I only see my reflection, Shiva. Not yours, and not a throne."

Shiva moved out of the way. _"Truly?"_ She then turned to look at Harry whose eyes had gone wide. _"Do you see it now?"_

Harry shook his head. "No... I see me. Behind me I see people." He looked at them. The man could almost have been an older version of himself, and the redheaded woman held the older man's hand. They both smiled at Harry. "My parents?"

Both adults leaned down and hugged the mirror Harry, who hugged back, but still kept his eyes locked to the real Harry Potter.

Harry felt a tear on his face as he watched them, his own arms thrown around his body but not feeling the hug his reflection was getting.

Shiva seemed to float in the air as she looked the mirror over. Harry did not see her puzzling the words over, before smiling.

"_I show not your reflection, but your heart's desire."_ She spoke.

"Huh?" Harry broke eye contact with his reflection, looking up to her. Unseen, the reflection's eyes shifted, slitting into cat's eyes as he watched.

"_I most desire the Throne of Ice, and saw myself on it. Powerful magic to pull such information from a magic construct as what I use now. And it touched you and saw your wish for family."_ Shiva answered.

Harry looked back to the mirror. His reflection's eyes were still slitted and Harry watched in horror as the man he assumed was his father turn into a green light, while his mother turned to flame. "Wha-?"

Harry did not have a chance to fully question the change, before the green light that his father had become flashed and faded. The fire surrounded his duplicate's body before sinking into him. Harry felt the same pulse of heat in his own body. Harry groaned.

"_Ifrit's hellfire!"_ Shiva's voice was shocked as she stared at Harry and the fiery glow that emanated from him.

"It... doesn't hurt?" Harry looked at his hands as heat pulsed through them.

Something drew his attention back to the mirror and Harry looked again, finding his smiling mother holding his reflection's hands. Flames licked between the two.

"_Harry."_ Shiva spoke quietly.

"Hmm?"

"_Could you do me a favor?" _Harry nodded, still watching the reflection. _"Concentrate on the name Ifrit like you did when you first summoned me, in the Headmaster's office."_ Shiva's voice held an odd hope to it. _"I wonder if you support Ifrit in the manner you support my Materia?"_

Harry locked eyes with his reflection and saw the cat's eyes, as words came to him.

"_[Ifrit, master of the blaze that dwells in my blood, bound in protection to burn away the most hated.]"_ Harry's voice slipped into a hiss again.

"_Dragon's voice."_ Was all Shiva could say, before the fire bloomed over Harry's skin.

It was a painless fire, as the image in the mirror vanished. It echoed through Harry's body and he could swear he heard a roar vibrating in his bones as it shook him, taking up residence in his head as the heatless flames built, before burning out.

Harry sunk to the ground as the last of the flames disappeared. "What?"

Shiva looked at the still closed door. _"Move away from the mirror and I will explain what I think I know."_

Harry did so, sinking down against a wall tiredly, though it wasn't quite evening yet.

"_Whatever you saw in the mirror..."_ Shiva trailed off.

"My mother turned to fire, then disappeared into my reflection."

"_You began glowing with an inner fire at that point. The fire was that of Ifrit, the Demon of Flame, another aspect of power like myself. That was the purpose of asking you to try to summon Ifrit, but I did not realize that only his flames were in you."_

Shiva looked confused. _"Bound into your blood, as you said. And in the dragon's voice as well. If your mother's reflection turned to fire, I would surmise that it was her doing that put the fire into you."_

Harry's head was spinning at the information. "What? My mother?"

"_Whatever she named to protect you against, Ifrit's fire is that protection, apparently."_ Shiva answered him. _But speaking in Dragon voice is what is even more surprising."_

Harry said nothing, still trying to get his mind around everything. Instead, he just nodded at her.

She continued. _"Bahamut was the originator of the Dragon's voice. I cannot speak it, but I can understand it. Just as they could understand me when I spoke as the winter's wind, but not speak it."_

Harry stood up a bit wobbly. "Neat, I guess. But how was what happened my heart's desire, Shiva?"

"_Your desire to know your family. And how you survived when they did not, I assume. Do you think you might look again, knowing what you know now?"_

Harry looked at the mirror, but didn't walk to it. "Maybe tomorrow."

* * *

"Harry, nothing is ever that easy. No mirror would ever give me my heart's desire just because I looked into it." Padma rolled her eyes.

"I didn't say it would give it to you, Padma. Just show it to you. You don't have to tell me what you see, I just want to know if it works on more than just me." Harry grinned at the girl as he showed her the way.

She raised an eyebrow at the distinction. "A mirror that shows me something such as that would be interesting. It could make a person better able to find what they truly want."

Harry opened the door to the room. "Yeah, but what if you want something you can't ever get?"

He pointed to the mirror, still sitting in the same spot it had been yesterday.

Padma read the inscription on the mirror, reversing it in her mind. "Well, let me see what my heart's desire is." Padma stepped up to the mirror.

"Hmm, everyone a slave to my every whim, bowing before me as the queen of everything."

Harry did a doubletake as Padma laughed.

"Just kidding. Interesting. I have apparently discovered Ravenclaw's diadem, as I am wearing it. I am known as one of the most powerful and wise witches, on par with the greatest of the mages of all times."

"Power and wisdom?" Harry looked at his friend. "What're you doing with it?"

Padma peered at the reflection only she could see. "Nothing, or at least not here. I wonder if I could tease out of this how I supposedly found the diadem?"

"Anything's possible, but wouldn't it be less learned if you got it from here?"

Padma stopped looking at her reflection to look at Harry. "What if this is the only way I'd be able to get it?" She then turned back to the mirror again.

"It isn't." Harry insisted to her. At her skeptical glance back, he went on. "I saw my parents alive and with me. I doubt the mirror can bring them back."

She stopped looking at the mirror, turning once more. "Hmm." She turned once more to look at her reflection before sighing. "Well, at least I know what I want now. You want a look at your parents again?" Padma stepped back, offering the spot in front of the mirror to Harry.

Harry nodded his thanks, stepping up as well. Would he see the fire again? Or just his parents?

As his image resolved in the mirror, a confused look stole across Harry's face. Behind him stood his parents again, that much was expected.

But beside him Shiva stood, and his reflection purposely had his arm bared showing no armlet. Nearby, something waivered in and out of existence, a huge throne of some type.

_I see my parents again, but you are there and I'm not wearing the armlet. I think I see your throne as well. I guess my heart's desire now includes getting you back to the Throne of Ice._ Harry sent the thought to Shiva.

"_I am glad I am so close to your heart then."_ Shiva responded slowly.

"My parents." Harry said simply to Padma.

"Want me to leave you be for a while? You could talk to them." Padma offered suddenly.

"Uh, sure."

Padma quickly left the mirror room, leaving Harry to stare at his reflection and the others for a while.

_You do not want to talk to them?_ Shiva asked him.

Harry shook his head. "They can't answer. I never understood talking to gravestones either."

Harry just stood there for a while, memorizing everything.

After an indeterminable amount of time, a voice spoke up. "How long do you plan to stay here watching, Harry?"

Harry jumped, turning around. The Headmaster was standing in the doorway, watching him. "I was hoping to memorize what they looked like, Headmaster. This is the first time I have seen them."

Albus nodded. "You have figured out what the mirror does?"

"Heart's desire. I want to see my parents, and so I can."

"Correct. The mirror reflects life as you wish and hope it could be. There have been those who have pined their lives away, trying to ascertain how to make what they have seen come to pass. Therein is the trap. But a man utterly content with his life, would be able to use the mirror as a true mirror." Dumbledore explained.

Harry thought back to Padma's response to the mirror. "Yeah, I can understand that, I guess."

"I will be moving the mirror tomorrow. I had not realized it was in the path of anyone at the school currently. If you see the mirror again, I would ask that you not get caught up into it again."

Harry nodded, looking back to his own heart's desire one more time. "Yes sir."

"Good." Dumbledore nodded, a twinkle in his eye. "Now, there are only a few more days until your classmates return. If you have not finished your holiday homework, I would suggest getting it done soon."

"Already done, sir, but thank you." Harry paused. "Um, if it isn't too intrusive, what do you see?"

Dumbledore gave an actual grin to Harry. "Socks. I can never get enough of them, and every year people give me books for Christmas instead."

Harry gave the headmaster a very surprised look.

The next day, the door disappeared, Harry assumed the mirror with it.

* * *

It was the middle of January before Harry found he could carve a path through the snow banks towards Hagrid's hut near the forest, smoke cheerfully coming from the chimney as he went to visit his first friend.

The other Ravenclaws had abandoned the idea after the first time he'd brought anyone with him, as they had declared Hagrid's rock cakes as dangerous to their health. Harry had found politely declining them worked just as well.

Knocking on the door, Harry grinned as he heard the loud barking of Fang as the dog banged around trying to get to whoever was outside the hut. The door opened and Harry smiled at Hagrid as Fang bounded forward trying to tackle Harry to lick him.

"Down Fang, down!" Hagrid yelled, pulling the dog back inside. "Come on in, 'Arry."

Harry came into the hut and sat down in one of the large chairs as Fang came over and slobbered on him to get Harry to pet him. He always liked how much friendlier Fang was versus Marge's dog.

Harry watched as Hagrid played with the fire, stirring the coals around. "Wha' brings ya over 'ere, 'Arry?" Hagrid asked him.

"I just came to visit for a bit. I didn't get a chance to tell you Merry Christmas because of all the snow blocking the way out of the castle."

"Yeah, I hadda heck of a time clearing it all out." Hagrid told him. "Had ta get it done 'for the others got back." He suddenly jumped up. "Oh, reminds me. Got something for ya."

Hagrid went over to his coat, pulling things from the pockets. Harry watched with amusement as the big man dug around, finally coming up with a little wrapped box and a bigger book. "Yer Christmas present first. I forgot to ask Professer Flitwick to send it ta yer room." He offered Harry the small box.

Harry took it, grinning like a loon at Hagrid. "Thanks!" He tore into the paper and pulled a small tin whistle out. He blew into it and Fang howled. "Heh, guess I need practice."

"Yeah. Even Fluffy wouldda hated that." Hagrid agreed.

"Fluffy?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, he's a Cerberus o' mine. Falls asleep ta music real easy. I lent 'im to Dumbledore ta guard..." he trailed off. "Nevermind, shouldn't a said that." Hagrid turned to play with the fire some more, carefully adding more wood.

Harry paused, thinking for a moment. "Guard something? A Cerberus? Big three headed dog?" He blinked. "Please tell me it's not on the three floor corridor."

"How'd ya guess... I mean no, o course not." Hagrid looked chagrined, turning back to stoking his fire.

"What in the world would you put a Ceberus guarding?" Harry asked rhetorically, shaking his head.

Hagrid shook his head. "That's between Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel!" He answered firmly.

"You can't keep a secret, can you?" Harry deadpanned.

"Shouldn't a said that either." Hagrid mentioned.

Harry pulled his cloak collar a bit as Hagrid built the fire some more. "Don't worry, I won't tell." He sighed.

_Ask him if he has anything else he doesn't want you to know._ Shiva suggested mischievously.

Harry shrugged but thought _Alright, good for a laugh I guess._ "So, while I keeping it secret, anything else you need me to not tell?"

Hagrid beamed at Harry. "Yeah, don't let any know that I finally got a dragon egg fer me very own!"

* * *

A/N: Yeah, Hagrid leaks information like a sieve. What do you expect? Either he's entirely too loose lipped for his own good, or Dumbledore specifically had him give Harry information, depending on your level of manip!Dumbledore.

Read and Review!


	13. Dragon sized problems

A/N: So, here's where bigger divergences from canon happen. As someone noted prior, yes, Hagrid didn't his egg until March, and here he got it in January. Timelines are being moved up for some reason. Gee, wonder why?

* * *

A dragon's egg. That explained all the wood that Hagrid kept building on his fire, for that's where the egg was.

Hagrid had let him look at the bright crimson egg that was as large as Harry's chest. Seeing the gold speckles on it, Harry had to laugh. "It's a Gryffindor colored egg."

Hagrid beamed back. "It's gunna be great, 'Arry! Always wanted a dragon of my own."

Harry smiled back a bit, before making his excuses to leave and began the plow through the snow back to the castle.

_I did not believe he would have another secret like that to tell._ Shiva's voice was fairly surprised as well.

Harry just shook his head.

Once back into the school proper, Harry headed to the library to look up dragons, only to be stopped by an unwelcome face as he passed by the Great Hall.

"Enjoy your visit with that oaf?" Malfoy asked, smirking at Harry. Behind him, Crabbe and Goyle watched the encounter. "I suppose you were asking him for tricks on how to survive the magical world as a Squib?"

Harry sighed. "Are you still on that? You've watched me in two separate classes perform magic for months now. I am just as precise as anyone else, and doing every bit of spellwork."

"You're still using a crutch, Potter. If you had any real magic, you'd actually be able to use a wand." Draco paused as if in thought. "Actually, according to my father, amplifiers went out of use hundreds of years ago because they caused wizards to die off very quickly as it used your life to control it."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Can't you come up with something better than this, Draco?"

Draco's smirk was still on his face. "I don't have to come up with anything, Potter. Got any gray hairs yet?"

"No. And thank you for being oh so worried about me." Harry answered back with sarcasm. "Now, I'm done talking to you, so goodbye."

Draco pulled his wand and motioned to Crabbe and Goyle who stepped forward. "No, I think we're not done yet, Potter. I'm going to prove to you that you're nothing better than a hyped up Squib."

Harry looked at the two thuggish boys approaching him. "Seriously? You're going to try to beat me up?" _ I feel like I'm back at the Durley's playing Harry Hunt._

_You can handle these three, Harry._ Shiva responded. _They do not even rate as a threat compared to the troll._

Harry looked Draco in the eye. "Haste." Was all he said, and the world seemed to slow by a fraction of a second. Quickly ducking under the first grab, the second one missed as well as Goyle expected Harry to already be partially held by Crabbe.

A yellow light flared from Draco's wand as the Slytherin cast a Tripping Jinx and Harry moved out of the way of that as well.

Touching his armlet, Harry brushed his fingers across the air, two side by side jab points and then a swish between then. "Petrificus Totallis."

Draco froze, stiff as a board and fell over. Crabbe and Goyle both stopped what they were doing, looking at Draco, then at Harry.

And then the haste Command wore off. "Again, I'm not a Squib." Harry said, turning and walking away.

* * *

It only took twenty minutes to find _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_, and look up the section on dragons.

"A Chinese Fireball?" Harry winced, thinking of Hagrid's wooden hut. "That's going to end up stupendously bad."

"Dragons?" Hermione asked a moment later as she sat down next to Harry, seeing what was in the book.

Harry looked up and smiled weakly. "Yeah, dragons. Neat creatures."

"Can I see?" Hermione asked, and Harry turned the book to her. "Ooh, it's pretty." She smiled at the illustration of the Fireball. "Bad dietary habits though."

"Hmm?" Harry asked, leaning over to look at the book again.

"Typical food sources. Pigs and humans."

_Oh great. Now Hagrid's pet is going to want to eat him when it gets big enough._ Harry groaned to himself. "Yeah, wouldn't want to be on their guest list then."

"Thankfully, it's native to China."

* * *

Harry continued visiting Hagrid for the next month or so, unable to convince his friend that hatching a dragon best known for its powerful mushroom cloud fire breath in a wooden hut was a bad idea.

As the days continued on the golden flecks on the egg grew brighter, a sign that the egg was getting closer to hatching.

Harry kept that in mind as he sat in the Ravenclaw stands watching the Ravenclaw/Slytherin Quidditch game.

"_Are you trying to draw out whoever it was that attacked you last time?_" Shiva asked him as she sat on the edge of the stands, watching the area closely.

_Kind of. I also enjoy the game, and I'd like to play. So I'm here supporting my house as well._ Harry answered her back.

The game was heavily favoring Slytherin as the Ravenclaws were not quite as willing to accept taking damaging shots to get penalty shot points.

Richard Bradley, the Ravenclaw Seeker, also seemed to spend half his time looking for the snitch, and half the time watching Harry.

"Get back into the game, you idiot." Harry grumbled to himself as the boy barely dodged a Bludger because he was trying to see where Harry was looking.

"You know Roger told him you found the Snitch earlier than the other players during the last game, so he's trying to get an advantage." Second year Eddie told him from his seat.

Harry looked at him. "Seriously?" Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm all for us winning, but can't it be on our actual player's abilities? I'd rather it be me out there if we're going to rely on me finding the Snitch anyways."

Harry got a few laughs at that from his housemates.

"And Slytherin scores again, bringing it to 180 to 60, Slytherin lead." Lee's voice announced and Harry looked up to find that the Ravenclaws were yet again getting hammered.

"Technical expertise is great, but they're barely being offensive out there." Harry groaned, dropping his face into his hands. "The Hufflepuff game came out more even, but apparently that's because they were both being good sports about it."

Harry looked at Madam Hooch, floating on her broom as she refereed the match.

"Barely half the things that I think should be violations, she's not calling." Harry grumbled.

"Quidditch is rough, mate." Eddie answered his unasked question. "We're playing textbook Quidditch. Slytherins never play nice, considering this is the easiest way for them to beat us to the house cup."

"Wait, wait, what?" Harry stopped paying attention to the game, turning to Eddie who nodded.

"Found that out the hard way last year myself. I figured we were a sure win for the house cup, even if we didn't get the Quidditch cup. We've always got the answer and get the points in class, right?"

Harry nodded slowly.

"Scores from the game are added directly to the house scores." Eddie told him.

Harry's mind skipped a beat. "Why the hell have separate cups then? Two to five points for a good answer in class. I got thirty points for that stupid troll." Eddie gave him a confused look at that, but Harry continued on unnoticing. "But the house cup gets the Quidditch points? Hell, why not make a gentleman's agreement with the other teams to run up the scores to purposely lock out any meaning to giving or taking points during class."

Harry threw his hands up. "Lose ten points due to something stupid? Agree that you'll each get a free goal on the other before you actually start the game. The Snitch is worth at least thirty good answers in class."

Harry sat back again, watching the game.

His nearby housemates were quiet for a moment. "And?" Eddie finally prompted.

Harry smiled. "I'm still going to enjoy the game. I'm just going to stop trying to get points in class. Do you think we could petition to eliminate the House Cup, just to make it obvious?"

"Harry James Potter." Hermione's voice was infuriated. "Even if our academic talents are being outclassed by seven people on brooms, I do not want to give up on earning recognition in class."

Harry looked at her and saw several people nodding their agreement. "Well, how about a petition to-"

"Three times in the past thirty years, according to gossip." One of the older students answered before Harry could finish. "I was a first year when the last attempt happened to have the Quidditch points split out from house points. Only Professor Flitwick was on our side about it."

Harry shrugged. "Back to my original point then. I'll quit worrying about earning house points. I'm not going to purposely lose them though."

Harry kicked back, looking at the game again, almost hoping something would happen just to get his mind off this.

Sadly, nothing happened, save Ravenclaw managing another goal.

Thirty minutes later, Slytherin finally got the Snitch with Lee announcing the final score. "Three hundred and fifty to one hundred, Slytherin snakes a win by force over the Ravenclaws."

"Mr. Jordan!" Professor McGonagall scolded him, but Lee ignored her as he left the announcer's stand.

* * *

It was the Saturday before the Hufflepuff/Gryffindor match that Harry found his weekly visit to Hagrid taking a strange turn.

Knocking on the door, Harry was almost knocked off his feet by Hagrid's exuberance. "The egg's starting ta hatch, 'Arry!"

Almost pulled into the hut, Harry saw that Hagrid had the egg sitting on coals, but for the first time a month didn't have a roaring fire built around it. And just as Hagrid said, hairline cracks were running through the dragon egg.

"I got a couple of old dragonkeeping books from the library." Hagrid said as he watched the egg, pulling several pails closer to it. "Said best mix to feed 'im with was brandy and chicken blood. Like mother's milk."

Harry's face twisted in a grimace at the thought. "Dragon biology is really different then."

_At least you can be assured that when the dragon burns the hut down around the two of you, this was not a premeditated attack on you._ Shiva mentally commented.

_Just one of opportunity then._ Harry shot the thought back to her, watching with interest as one of the cracks got bigger and a portion of the egg broke off. "How long has it been cracking, Hagrid?"

"Coupla hours." The big man answered. "Ya think it's too long?"

"I didn't read the book on hatching dragons, you did. Didn't it say?"

"Yeah. Said 'tween one and three hours ta hatch." Hagrid watched as another small section of egg flaked away.

"Then you're still good." Harry watched as the egg portions warmed in the coals, but didn't catch fire. He wondered exactly how fire resistant they really were.

Harry watched with interest as the next ten minutes went by and the egg cracked more and more, before finally shattering.

Out of the egg slipped a serpentine form, and Harry could see wings weakly flapping and breaking the egg up a bit more as it struggled free.

Ignoring the hot coals, Hagrid scooped the little dragon out of the fireplace and set it on the table. Harry was faintly surprised at its size. He'd thought it small, but that was only in comparison to the Hagrid sized fireplace. Sitting on the table the crimson colored dragon was already the length of Harry's forearm.

Hagrid immediately dropped a bowl of blood and brandy in front of it and the dragonette dropped its head into the concoction.

"Is it going to drown itself?" Harry asked, looking at Hagrid.

"Nah, it's already drank it down!" Hagrid grinned at his pet as Harry turned to look again. Indeed, a tiny tongue was wiping against the bottom of the bowl for the last of the broth already. "He's just so cute."

Harry looked at the little dragon as Hagrid's large hands started rubbing against the much smaller magical creature. It turned and snapped weakly at Hagrid's fingers.

"Already knows 'is mommy, 'e does!" Hagrid proclaimed.

Harry got a bit closer, carefully staying far enough back from the dragon to be away from snapping teeth, but close enough to get a detailed look at it. _"[You are pretty neat, aren't you?]"_ Harry didn't notice his voice slipping into a hiss, but did notice Hagrid's hands freezing along with the baby dragon.

The dragon unfroze after a moment, tossing its head over its shoulder to look back at Harry.

"Harry?" Hagrid's voice was quiet and had a touch of fear in it that seemed to rob him of his accent.

Harry looked up at his friend. "Hmm?" Hagrid's face went a little white when they met eyes, as Harry's eyes were still vertically slitted.

"Ya.. Ya just hissed at the dragon. Snake hissing. Yer a Parselmouth?" Hagrid shakily asked.

_You slipped into the Dragon's Voice again._ Shiva told him.

"What's a Parselmouth?" Harry asked.

"Someone who kin speak to snakes.." Hagrid answered, calming slightly as Harry's eyes returned to normal.

"I did talk to a big python a couple of years ago." Harry admitted.

"It's a sign o' a Dark wizard, 'Arry! You-Know-Who was one." Hagrid almost yelled, the little dragon giving a low cry as it was still hungry.

Harry frowned. "But I'm not a dark wizard, Hagrid."

"Well, yeah, _I_ know that 'Arry. Um, ya think..." Hagrid trailed off.

"You need to take care of your dragon, Hagrid." Harry sighed, getting the message. "Do you mind if I stop by again next week after the Quidditch match?"

"Yeah, sure 'Arry. Next week." Hagrid nodded rapidly.

"Alright, I'll see you then, Hagrid."

Harry left the hut, looking back as the door was quickly closed. His shoulder's dropped as he considered. _You think I'm actually welcome back, Shiva?_

_I am not certain. Perhaps he just needs time to come to grips with your ability. I had not realized that the Dragon's Voice extended to snakes as well. And if that is the case, this Dark wizard has the Dragon's Voice as well._

_And that means?_ Harry prompted.

_I do not know. A family connection perhaps? I had not paid attention to notice if Bahamut blessed others with his Dragon's Voice. Shiva that I was never gave the ability to speak with winter's wind to anyone._

"We'll probably never know, considering you can't ask him."

Harry continued the walk back to the castle in silence.

* * *

The Hufflepuff/Gryffindor match the next week went through without any issue again, setting Harry's nerves on edge as he still didn't know who had caused all the attacks back in November.

But he put that aside as he knocked on Hagrid's door once more. Hagrid opened the door and Harry actually smiled slightly at the occasional burn marks on Hagrid's coat.

"Oh, er, 'Arry. Glad ya could make it." Hagrid started. "Um, ya want ta see Firewing?"

Harry nodded, assuming that was what Hagrid named the little dragon.

Hagrid stepped out of the door, letting Harry in.

As Harry stepped into the hut, he winced at the number of put out fires already marking the hut. "I guess the start breathing fire pretty quick?" Harry asked, looking around for the little dragon.

"Yeah, 'e started the day after ya left." Hagrid answered. "'N 'Arry? I'm sorry 'bout the parseltongue. I know yer not a Dark Wizard, just surprised me."

Harry nodded distractedly, having finally noticed the dragon. It'd grown already and was almost as long as Harry's full arm now. It was poking into a number of jars sitting on the floor.

"Oh, 'e's hungry again. 'Old on, let me get 'im fed." Hagrid said, rushing over to the jars and the dragon.

The large earthen jars were as big as Harry's chest and he watched as Hagrid broke one of them open for the dragon who like last week dunked its head into concoction and drank it down.

Harry watched as Hagrid beamed at the dragon. Quickly done, however, it pulled its head out and Harry watched as it beat its wings and started lifting from the ground. It flew around the room once, before angling to a wall.

"No, no! Stay inside, Firewing!" Hagrid said.

Harry watched with a little fear as the Chinese Fireball blew a mushroom cloud of flame in front of it at the wooden wall, before Hagrid managed to grab it and beat the fire out.

The dragon gave a pitiful roar at Hagrid, but Harry heard more than just that. _"[Man-momma! I wanna go fly in the sky!]"_

Harry shakily fell into a chair, not paying attention to it knocking into another chair.

The dragon's head whipped around and spotted Harry. This time, it gave a hissing roar, and Harry heard words once more. _"[Hi sir! Can you tell man-momma to let me out?]"_

Harry gave the baby dragon a long look, as it stilled in Hagrid's arms. He then looked at Hagrid. "Firewing is asking to go outside."

"Yeh can understand 'im, 'Arry?" Hagrid looked shocked and gleeful, and then actually parsed the question. "I can't let 'em out though, 'Arry. He'd get hurt, or hurt one o' the other students."

"What happens when he gets too big to even fit in your house, Hagrid?" Harry asked instead. "Right now you can grab him. What happens when he's even bigger than you?"

Hagrid looked down. "I just wanted a dragon. Ain't so bad, is it?"

Harry shook his head. "I think he's cool." He agreed with Hagrid. "But you're not supposed to own a dragon in Britain anymore. There're laws against it."

"I just can't get rid of 'im though. What am I supposed to do with 'im?"

_He had a Cerberus, did he not?_ Shiva asked mentally. _If the Headmaster had a use for it, perhaps the same could be done with this dragon._

_That's great, Shiva! Thanks!_ Harry grinned and Hagrid looked puzzled. "How about the Headmaster, Hagrid? He's got your Cerebrus guarding something, right?"

Hagrid nodded slowly.

"Can he do something about Firewing?"

"Don't think Firewing could do much guardin' Flamel's stone, but Dumbledore'll know what ta do!" Hagrid agreed.

"_[Can I go flying outside now?]"_ Firewing asked from Hagrid's arms, a puff of discontented smoke coming from him.

Harry shook his head. _"[You're not supposed to be here, Firewing. We're trying to make it ok for you to be here.]"_

Hagrid shuddered at Harry's hissing and low growl. "Didn't know Parseltongue had growls in it, but it still sends shivers down me back."

"I guess I'll have to dragonsit while you go talk to the Headmaster?" Harry asked.

Hagrid beamed. "Thank ya, 'Arry. I'll go right now and talk to 'im."

* * *

So, we're a full 9 weeks ahead of when Norbert came, and therefore Hagrid ended up with a different Dragon egg. Besides, the more dangerous the better, right?

Read and review, please.


	14. Dragon shaped resolution

A/N: For those of you complaining about me reusing the same storyline stuff, the divergence is literally a month before Harry starts school. There's not enough time for ripple effects to change major things. This is the first major ripple we see.

* * *

"A dragon."

"Yes."

"A Chinese Fireball."

"Yes."

"It's Gryffindor colored."

"Yes."

"Ravenclaws are eagles, or possibly ravens if you use our house name. Yet we're supposed to adopt a Gryffindor colored dragon."

"Yes."

"Why?"

Harry stood in the common room, looking at his housemates as they questioned his sanity. The headmaster had come through for Hagrid, acquiring a provisional license for Hagrid to maintain a foreign dragon from the hatchling state, in an attempt to train it away from its standard diet, namely humans.

However, one of the requirements was keeping it introduced to people to make it aware they were not a food source. The headmaster had thought it a grand idea to make it a house project, and had given Harry the first opportunity to enlist his house to adopt the dragon and help care for it, before opening the possible project up to the other houses. If none of the houses picked it up, it would be turned over to the Care of Magical Creatures classes, but that would make it harder on the dragon with people changing out every few hours.

And Firewing was a really neat dragon, anyways. Now that he was out of Hagrid's wooden hut.

"We're the house of the smart people. We're the most likely to come through for Firewing and actually get Hagrid's license for doing this a full time thing." Harry argued. "Don't you all want to be known as the ones that helped changed the way a species of dragon acts?"

"Some of us have NEWTS or OWLS to worry about, Harry." One of the seventh years commented. "How long have you know about this, anyways?"

"You were looking at Chinese Fireballs two months ago in the library." Hermione spoke up.

"Two months, seriously?" Another asked. "You'd have a lot more support if you'd bring things up like this earlier, Harry."

"Hagrid's had the provisional license for a week, not two months. I was just helping him with the idea before." Harry explained. He then pulled out the biggest card he knew. "Besides, can you imagine what the Gryffindors would do if they were in charge?"

A number of the older students winced. "Merlin forbid the Weasley twins decide to train it to help with pranks."

"Alright, Mr. Potter. You've had your chance to sway them to your side." Professor Flitwick said from a corner. "Since this will be an entire house project, the vote will be taken of the whole house. First years have just as much of a vote in this as seventh years."

Flitwick held a hand up as several of the older students appeared ready to argue. "You're closer to leaving Hogwarts than they are. This is, at a minimum, a five year project. First and second year students will be dealing with this for most if not all of their years here. So yes, their votes count just as much as yours."

Eyes cut from Flitwick to Harry, to the other young students, and then to each other as the older students seemed to hold a mini conference of their own.

"Now, show of hands. Number of people against Ravenclaw taking this project on?" A fair number of hands came up, with quite a number of third and fourth years.

"Those for this project?" Again, a number of hands went up. Harry grinned to see that every first and second year was for it, and there were a good number of older students as well.

Flitwick smiled at the group. "Alright, with sixty seven percent of the vote, Ravenclaw will be assisting the groundskeeper with the Chinese Fireball."

Harry cheered, and a few cheered with him.

Flitwick allowed it for a moment, before getting their attention once more. "Now, a few ground rules I am certain the groundskeeper won't mention. Third years and below are not to deal with Firewing by themselves, regardless of his size. Either three of you, or with an older student. Once we're certain of his activities, this might change."

Flitwick looked around at some of the students who had voted against it. "Everyone will spend at least some time with Firewing. Even if you dislike the idea or the time it takes, it is something else for you to teach, that not all people are thrilled to deal with him."

"And finally, all scratches, bites, and other various injuries are to be immediately seen to in the Hospital Wing. All dragons have at least a slight venom component to their bites." Flitwick finished. "Now, any of you who wish to go see the young dragon, Hagrid will be able to show you to him. I need to go let the headmaster know my Ravenclaws are taking on this challenge."

Flitwick left, and Harry felt a large number of eyes fall on him once more.

"I'm going to go visit Firewing." Harry quickly said. "Anyone else coming?"

* * *

The area marked out for Firewing included Hagrid's hut, and that is where Harry and roughly forty other Ravenclaws started out at, still working through six inches of snow on the ground.

Hagrid was in the backyard of the hut, and the students could hear him talking as they came around. It was kind of funny watching the big man talking to a dragon that still mostly fit into Hagrid's arms.

Even weirder was the way the dragon seemed to actually be paying attention to Hagrid. Or at least the large jar in his hands that held his meal.

"How old is it, anyways?" Padma's eyes were wide as she took in the now three foot long dragon, as big as some dogs.

Hagrid turned hearing the voices. "Oh, 'ey! Firewing's only three weeks old." He answered Padma's question. "'e'll keep growing till he's bout as big as a horse then stop fer a while."

No longer watching the dragon, Firewing jumped at Hagrid attempting to knock the jar down. Unfortunately, Hagrid's hand was thick enough and strong enough that the dragon was unable to knock it down.

Firewing gave a plaintive half roar and the others smiled at the scene. Harry heard the plea behind it. "_[Man-momma!]"_

Hagrid set the jar down, allowing Firewing to break into it for the meal inside. Harry watched as Firewing bit into a goblet of meat and ate it along with the rest of the liquid in the jar and Hagrid ran a hand down the little dragon's spine.

Apparently, Firewing was already moving into the solids stage.

Most of the smiles turned a bit sickly as the Fireball finished his meal and looked up out of the jar, a few drops of blood dripping.

Seeing the meal was done, Hagrid scooped up the dragon and earned himself a startled flame to his mokeskin coat which smoldered for a moment before going out. "Lemme introduce ya to Firewing!" Hagrid said, bringing the crimson colored dragon over.

The dragon squirmed in Hagrid's arms until Hagrid held him out to the collected Ravenclaws who took a step backwards at the smoke that came from it. Hagrid gently thumped the dragon on the snout. "No burning the students. They ain't fire resistant, Firewing."

The dragon turned and hit Hagrid with a flame, scorching a bit of his eyebrows.

_Oh god, I'm going to have to do most of the training myself, aren't I? _Harry bemoaned to Shiva.

_No good deed goes unpunished, Harry. You will have to explain the rules to the dragon, or they will have to teach it like an animal._

"This is Firewing." Hagrid said, holding the dragon out once more. Thankfully he didn't flame anyone this time. "I can't thank ya enough for helping. We gotta teach him where he's allowed to fly 'round at 'ere and once 'e's eating real food what he can 'n can't eat."

Hagrid beamed and then hugged the dragon, earning an attempt at a bite from Firewing that didn't pierce skin. "Ain't 'e cute?"

"Harry, exactly what have you gotten us into?"

* * *

The next morning at breakfast, Dumbledore stood before the meal could appear. Whispers started at three of the tables on what he might be announcing.

"Students, our Groundskeeper Rubeus Hagrid has agreed to rear a hatchling Chinese Fireball, in an effort to teach it that people are not supposed to be its foodsource."

The whispers ground to a halt as the headmaster had gotten everyone's attention with a single statement.

"A section of the grounds are being marked out as the grounds for young Firewing. They will stretch from Hagrid's home to the Forbidden Forest and a ways around."

The whispers picked back up as the older students started discussing a Chinese Fireball.

"Additionally, Ravenclaw House has agreed to be the primary helpers of Hagrid with regards to the training and other requirements that may arise with this."

Dead silence filled the hall once more, as three houses worth of students turned to stare at the fourth. The Ravenclaws held together and most were either ignoring the entire announcement now, or ignoring the other students by paying attention to the headmaster.

Harry just looked down at his plate, poking at the food there. _I'm going to see Firewing tonight, and try to explain the rules._

Harry stood as the headmaster sat back down and left.

* * *

The moon was high in the sky as Harry sat at his desk going over an essay for Charms. He looked out the duplicated window, figuring the time to be nearly midnight.

Shiva stood nearby, watching him with a slight smile. _"Why you do not just do this during the day I do not understand."_

Harry got up, putting the essay away. "The Dragon's Voice is close enough to, or actually is, parseltongue. I'd rather not get labeled as being a Dark wizard just because it's seen as dark."

"_Being labeled a Dark wizard would be detrimental to you and I."_ Shiva agreed, though not without a pause. _"Secrets are not to be kept forever, however. You have seen how well your friend Hagrid keeps them, and I would think it almost certain that your headmaster knows already."_

Harry sighed, quietly exiting his room and heading down the stairs. _Yeah, I know it's going to get out eventually. Hopefully not in a bad way though._

Thankfully, the common room was empty of even the most studious of students, either asleep or having retreated to their own rooms. Harry eased out of the common room past the riddle door and headed downstairs.

Luck was apparently with him, as Harry managed to make it out of the castle without disturbing any portraits or caretakers.

Hagrid had built a new addition next to his hut, a fairly big rock pile that Harry knew had a cave in the center of it, big enough for Firewing.

"_[Firewing, are you in there?]"_ Harry called out into the dark. After a moment with no answer, Harry tried again. _"[Firewing! I need to talk to you!]"_

Still there was no reply. Harry looked at Hagrid's hut and saw that it was dark as well. Hopefully Hagrid wouldn't mind being woken up.

Banging on the door to Hagrid's hut, Harry heard nothing. Not Hagrid moving around, nor Fang's barking. "Where are they?" Harry wondered to himself.

"_Perhaps you are not the only one to take a night walk. Will you wait for them to return, or go back to your room?"_ Shiva asked him.

"Wait. I have to see if Firewing will listen to the rules. I really don't want them to try to train him like a dog." Harry answered.

Harry sat down against the front door of the hut and watched the night.

It was thankfully less than an hour later that Harry saw Hagrid coming from the direction of the Forbidden Forest. Fang was trotting next to him and Hagrid was carrying something big in his arms. Harry saw Firewing flitting above Hagrid.

As Hagrid got closer to the house, Harry saw it looked like a white horse in his arms. As Firewing swooped down, Harry was actually surprised to see Hagrid almost swat Firewing off.

"_[Man-momma, let me eat it!]"_

"'Arry! Can yah tell Firewing he can't have this?" Hagrid said once he saw Harry. "And what are ya doing up so late anyways?"

"I wanted to talk to Firewing." Harry said, looking at the dead animal in Hagrid's arms. "What is that?"

"Sumthing's killing unicorns in the forest." Hagrid said, his voice dark. "Awful thing, ta kill a unicorn. All it's blood was gone, whatever it is is drinkin' tha blood."

Harry stared, finally seeing the horn on the unicorn. Looking at Firewing, Harry warned him off. _"[Firewing, that is bad to eat.]"_ Harry thought for a moment as the dragon stopped trying to get stripes from the unicorn to listen. _"[It will make you sick.]"_

"_[Oh.]"_ Firewing fell from the sky back to the rocky outcropping that was his little cave. _"[I thought man-momma was showing me what to hunt when I'm hungry.]"_

Harry shook his head. "Hagrid, he thought you were showing him how to hunt."

"Oh, no." Hagrid scratched the dragon's head, eliciting a happy hiss. "Tomorrow night."

Harry passed the words to Firewing, who flapped his wings happily. "Do you think I can stay here and talk to Firewing for a bit, Hagrid?"

The big man nodded. "I gotta get the unicorn body buried and I hafta tell Professor Dumbledore tomorrow. Take yer time with Firewing."

Harry grinned. "Thanks Hagrid."

Harry spent the next hour talking to Firewing. The little dragon was smart, but still so very young. He had to relate everything through the idea of hunting, food, or his man-momma to get Firewing to understand some of the more complicated things.

It was almost two in the morning when Harry left Hagrid's hut and headed back into the school, trying his best to not get caught as he went back to Ravenclaw Tower.

"G-G-going somewhere, M-m-mister Potter?"

Harry winced as he was caught, barely halfway back to the Tower. He turned to see Professor Quirrell watching him. "Back to bed, sir?"

"Y-y-you'd best b-b-b-be on your w-w-way then. T-t-ten points from Ravenclaw, and d-d-detention tomorrow night w-w-with me." The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor stuttered.

"Yes sir. What time?" Harry asked.

"T-t-ten o'clock."

* * *

Hmm, detention with Professor Quirrell. That'll work out well, won't it?

Read and Review!


	15. A deadly detention

A/N: So, my laptop died and that's what I usually write my fanfiction on. Oddly enough, that's what caused me to stop writing on Stone Pinions so long ago. I've gotten better about that now, and Dropbox all my fanfiction that I'm working on. But my new laptop won't be shipped until Monday, so don't expect another chapter until Wednesday or so, as I dislike having to type on the PC I'm using now.

* * *

Harry shook his head as he posted the paper on a wall in the common room. He wondered if it'd take off, or if the paper would end up taken off.

Either way, Harry smiled as he left the common room.

Curious, several students looked at the posted paper. _Number of Quaffle goals required to fix Housecup points lost._

Under that was Harry's name and the number one. Plenty of spaces were left under it for other names and numbers.

* * *

The halls of Hogwarts were quiet as Harry walked through them, heading for the Defense classroom. Ten p.m. was the curfew hour, and with only a few minutes to go until that time, there were no other students in this section of the castle.

Turning a corner Harry continued onward, pausing when someone stepped out of the shadows. "Potter! As there is no chance of you making it back to your dorm in the next few minutes, shall I take points now?" Professor Snape asked.

Harry groaned quietly to himself. "Actually sir, I'm on my way to a detention with Professor Quirrell." He explained. "He set it for ten."

Snape looked at Harry. "Well then, let's go see if you're lying or not, Potter." Snape waved a hand, motioning for Harry to continue.

It wasn't much further to the Defense classroom, and with Professor Snape following his footsteps, Harry walked just a bit quicker.

_You seem to attract the attention of your teachers, Harry. What are the chances of running into two teachers in two nights, in a castle this large?_ Shiva spoke into his mind.

_Apparently for me, fairly good._ Harry thought back.

Arriving at the Defense classroom, Harry opened the door into the large room. Professor Quirrell was sitting at his desk and watched the entrance of both student and teacher.

"S-S-Severus?"

"A pity. I had hoped Potter was lying about having a detention. I was looking forward to assigning one of my own." Professor Snape looked down on the seated Defense Professor, before turning and walking out of the room, robes billowing.

Harry watched the Potions professor leave, before turning back to Quirrell.

"S-Sit, Mr. Potter." Quirrell motioned to the desks. "I-I-I am almost f-f-finished with this, then we will get to y-y-your punishment."

Harry sat on the first row, and waited quietly. After a few minutes, Quirrell finished up with whatever he was working on and looked up at Harry.

"Do you realize, Mr. P-P-Potter, that the Headmaster has been forced into an e-e-emergency meeting due to the dead unicorn from l-l-last night? T-T-They are blaming it on the Fireball." Quirrell stuttered out.

"Firewing?" Harry looked incredulous. "That's crazy. He's not big enough to catch a unicorn."

Quirrell shrugged and stood. "B-b-be that as it m-m-may. C-C-Come." He motioned for Harry to follow him, as he walked out of the classroom. Harry stood quickly and followed him.

"S-S-Since the Headmaster is o-out of the castle, w-w-we have to check the defenses of the third floor." Quirrell explained as they walked.

_The third floor? The corridor? Great, I guess we get to see Fluffy._ Harry groaned into his head.

_Curious._ Shiva added. _Let us see what happens._

Harry immediately answered her back. _What do you mean by that?_

_Recall that the Cerberus is protecting Flamel's stone, from what your friend stated. My curiosity is peaked at what this stone may be._

Harry nodded, but cut his mental reply short as the Defense professor starting talking again.

"I-I-I have been telling the H-H-Headmaster that the defenses a-a-are not enough, s-s-so you will p-p-prove my point, Mr. Potter." Quirrell was saying.

"Prove your point, Professor?"

"Yes. I-I-I want to see how far you can get past yourself. I-I will be watching to ensure your s-s-safety."

Harry was quiet at that for a moment. "You want to see how far a first year can get?"

"Y-Y-Yes."

* * *

The third floor corridor was quiet as professor and student stood at the locked door. "Alright, Mr. P-P-Potter, begin." The Defense professor said.

Harry looked at the door and sighed. "I know what's behind it. I don't have anything to create music to put a Cerberus to sleep. Do you, Professor?"

Harry got a nervous chuckle from the professor. "Found o-o-out about it, already? Y-Y-Yes, I can conjure a h-harp and make it p-p-play. W-W-We will assume you took the time to d-d-discover that spell."

Harry nodded, touching his armlet and then the lock. "Alohamora." The lock popped gently and Harry opened the door.

A very large, nearly house-sized dog stood at the other end of the room the door led into. It immediately started pulling heavily on a metal chain attached to collars on all three necks of the dog. There was only about ten feet of room where the dog wasn't able to immediately attack.

Professor Quirrell waved his hand and a harp formed from thin air without a word for the conjuration. Harry looked at, impressed at it as it began playing a soothing tone. Though he did press hard against the wall even as the Professor stood quite close to the gnashing teeth

Quickly, the Cerberus sunk to its belly, and was fast asleep.

"C-C-Continue, Mr. Potter." Quirrell said.

The back wall, visible now, was empty save the massive ring the chain was ran through. Harry looked around the room. "A trap door?"

A wooden trap door was indeed resting between two of the dog's heads as it snoozed peacefully. Harry looked at Fluffy and the door, and then to Quirrell's harp. "How long will that continue to play, sir?"

"A-A-As long as it n-n-needs to, Mr. P-P-Potter."

_Something is not right, Harry._ Shiva added. _Your professor is not acting completely in the same manner he has been throughout the year._

_Seriously?_ Harry looked at the Defense professor again, nodding to him. Carefully, Harry walked over to the trap door. Thankfully, it opened up in such a manner that it would not hit the dog flipping open. _He's still stuttering like normal._

_He has been very nervous and almost afraid the entire year, remember the troll?_ Shiva reminded him. _From what you were told, he fainted over it. And yet..._

Harry faintly levitated the ring on the door up, so the trap door lifted. There were no steps or a ladder down.

_He stood fearlessly in front of the Ceberus._ Shiva finished.

_Yeah..._

"W-w-well, Mr. Potter?"

Harry looked down into the trapdoor, though he could only see at best ten feet down. "I can't see a bottom."

"Imperio." Harry heard behind him, before a strange relief flowed through him.

"I had hoped you did not know about the Ceberus, Harry. It would have been better if you had died facing it." Quirrell stated to the still boy.

_Harry? Harry!_ Shiva did not get any response out of him.

"Now, you're going to be my test subject through the rest of the little traps the pitiful teachers have put up. But first, remove the armlet. I have plenty of uses for that much mithril."

"I can't." Harry said evenly.

Quirrell pushed Harry down the trapdoor. "If you survive, explain."

Harry tumbled down and fell into a soft bed of vines.

"_HARRY POTTER!"_ Shiva's voice echoed in his head, even as the dark air shimmered as she appeared. _"ANSWER ME!"_

"Well, since you're still under the Imperious, I assume you're alive. I'm coming down." Quirrell's voice floated from above, before the man himself dropped down.

Harry by this time had a vine already wrapping around his arms, and Quirrell cursed. "Too tight on the Imperious. Damn Devil's Snare."

From the Defense professor's wand came fire, which burned away enough of the plant that both Quirrell and Harry fell through.

"_HARRY POTTER!" _Shiva yelled into his mind again.

"Explain, Potter." Quirrell insisted.

"The armlet does not come off. Shiva put it on and I can't take it off." Harry answered in a monotone voice.

"Shiva? The spirit Dumbledore was speaking of? How interesting. Although, I think I'll be able to remove it from you, if I take your arm off once I kill you." Quirrell chuckled. "Onwards."

_Kill me?_ Harry's mental voice echoed through the lassitude at that comment.

Shiva immediately grabbed at it. _"HARRY!"_

His mind seemed to freeze as she yanked at him mentally. _Shiva? What's going on? I can't control myself._

_Your professor here placed you under some sort of control magic. I was right that he was acting differently, only neither of us reacted in time._

Harry didn't pay outwards attention as Quirrell led him through a room with flying keys, the right one falling out of the sky to an _Accio door key_, nor the chess game that Quirrel ended in six moves.

Harry snapped back to attention, however, when the next door proved there to be a huge troll.

"I am not certain how you managed to kill the troll I let into the school. But I think you'll do fine against this one. Kill it the same way you did the previous one. I want to test the power of your armlet."

'This one' was about two feet taller than the previous one and looked a lot healthier, for all that it apparently had no food down here.

But Quirrell's command gave Harry control over his body again to fight.

_You summoned me to fight the previous troll. Call me, I will kill him._ Shiva's voice was eager, and Harry barely echoed her back.

Harry nodded to the professor. _"[Shiva of Ice and Snow, I offer magic to build the body to summon you forth!]"_ The hissing roar blew magic through Harry and he felt whatever it was snap as half the magic in his body flew out and ice formed into crystals.

"Parseltongue! And he broke the Imperious!" Quirrell shouted, even as Shiva thundered through the ice that summoned her.

"Harry, kill the troll! I will handle the teacher!" Shiva shouted, before ice began forming over the room.

Harry nodded and ran forward, letting Shiva protect him from the professor. He wasn't sure if he could stop Quirrell, but the troll, he could do something about that. "Fira!" He Commanded, and fire blazed forth as the troll screamed in pain. Only twenty percent of his total magic for that Command now, which was good.

Unseen behind him, Shiva was finding it harder to fight the teacher, whose wanded magic was doing quite well at keeping her at bay.

"Blizzaga." The steep depths of winter formed around the professor, only for something to push back. One of her strongest ice magics, and barely any frost was left on him? "What are you?"

Quirrell smirked. "Better than you, spirit. I didn't think Potter would break the Imperious, but I had prepared for possibly having to remove you. I warded myself against extremes of heat and cold." A powerful red blast of magic came from Quirrell's wand and slammed into Shiva, knocking her back.

Clutching her chest, Shiva glared. "And yet, it still pierced you somewhat. You are not immune, just very resistant." A pained smile from her. "In a single spell, I can only match what was given to give me form. But it is enough for this." "Absolute-"

Another bolt of magic, this time a sickly purple, hit Shiva. _He keeps aiming for Harry, thus I must take the shots._ She grimaced. Her strongest magics took a bit more time to Command, but she could still... "Hastega!"

The troll had stopped it's mad charge, tearing at its own flesh to try to stop the flames before they finally died out. As it readied a hammerblow against Harry, he felt magic take hold of him, speeding his reactions up. _She got me with Haste, cool._

It would only be a few moments, but it would be enough as Harry managed to move to the side of the huge club. "Fira." This time, the flames did not die down before the troll fell over completely. He turned.

Shiva was heavily battered, she could feel the energies of her body trying to fly apart and return but she held onto the summoned magic through sheer willpower and her own magic. "Absolute Zero!"

Where Quirrell was standing quickly turned into a single block of ice, with Quirrell standing frozen in the middle, wand out to continue casting.

Shiva let the magic go and her created body vanished into nothing. _Ahh!_ Her voice seemed to be in fairly bad pain in his head.

Harry cautiously watched the ice. _What happened? I thought you couldn't get hurt from that?_

_I spent my own magic to hold together longer. It made the wounds actually echo into me in payment._ Shiva's voice shivered in pain. _I will be alright with time._

_You sure?_ Harry asked her.

_Yes._

"How am I supposed to get back?" Harry asked outloud, sighing. "I don't think I can climb that plant. It'd try to kill me first."

The ice cracked, and then shattered.

Harry stared at Professor Quirrell, whose face seemed to melt and flow, his eyes taking a red hue. "Harry Potter."

"Oh fuck me." Harry breathed as he backed up.

_This is not good._ Shiva's mental voice understated.

"Imagine my surprise when I heard parseltongue, and used for summoning no less? Something I will have to look into, once you are dead." Quirrell's voice had changed, and had a sibilant hiss of its own. "I will let you know before I kill you, that you nearly destroyed Quirrell. He barely holds onto life now. The unicorn's blood holds the both of us alive, and shall long enough to get the Philosopher's Stone."

"Both of you?" Harry asked, backing up, nearly tripping over the troll club.

"Why yes." That sibilant hiss again. "Quirrell has played host to myself this entire school year, allowing me to get to the stone. You may have somehow banished me from my body as a babe, but I am the Dark Lord Voldemort, Harry Potter. I am immortal! Now, I will offer you one chance. Join me, or die."

_Well, at least I know his name now._ Harry's mental voice to Shiva was weak as his eyes widened. "You killed my parents. No."

"_[Very well then. Die.]" _Voldemort hissed.

He was fairly well tapped in magic, burning down the troll had taken its toll on him. He hadn't regained any of the magic from summoning Shiva due to the damage she'd taken.

_Use whatever you can, Harry._

"Bolt." Harry called, and even though they were not outside, a lightning bolt obeyed and struck down on the combined form of Quirrell and Voldemort.

Voldemort held out Quirrell's wand and grounded out the lightning. "Interesting, Potter. You have control of more elemental magic than just fire and ice. Your armlet will provide me with much power when I take it from your body."

Harry didn't recognize any of the spells that were cast, but he still had Shiva's Haste magic effecting him, allowing him to dive out of the way of them.

"Good reaction, Potter. Now, die for me. Avada Kedavra."

The deadly bolt of green magic flared in the air between them and Harry felt like his whole body was burning from the magic as he barely managed to scramble out of the way.

_No, it is Ifrit's Hellfire burning, Harry! Can you use it?_ Shiva's voice held hope.

Thankfully, he didn't have a wand to lose, but Harry wouldn't have enough time to try to use the armlet to cast. He was nearly completely magically empty anyways. _How am I supposed to use it?_

Quirrell's malformed face grinned at Harry. "Your ability to dodge is most impressive. Do you think you will be able to continue?"

_The fire is in your blood, remember the mirror and the words. Tackle him. At worst, you can try to knock the wand from him._

"Tackle him?" Harry questioned under his breath. _Should have gotten the hat to sort you to Gryffindor._

It was not just luck that was Harry's ability to dodge the spellfire, and he could almost thank his cousin for the torture that was Harry Hunting, as it gave him the chance to survive now.

He only hoped this wasn't going to kill him, as the Haste magic wore off of him. "Quake!" The room shuddered as Quirrellmort became the epicenter for a small earthquake, stones dislodging and causing him to have to stop to regain his footing.

And Harry jumped, slamming into Quirrell, trying to grab the wand, only to feel his body seem to actually catch fire as Quirrell did as well.

Three screams seemed to rise from the two bodies, as Quirrell and Voldemort turned to ash wherever Harry touched them. The pain seared through Harry as well though, as the possessed Professor's hands fell off because he had been holding his wrists.

And then his body cooled off as he saw Shiva appear next to him, her hands sinking into his to counteract a majority of the pain. Harry winced as he saw the gouges in her chest and stomach where she had taken hits. They seemed to actually be darkening, somehow getting worse.

After a moment, Quirrell's body fell umoving.

Shiva vanished.

_Why did you do that?_ Harry demanded in his head, trying to draw in deep breaths.

_It was the only way I could protect you. Your were on the verge of passing out from the pain of the fires. I could not let you fall, because I could not be sure your enemy was gone._

"You hurt yourself more for me though." Harry sighed. "Thank you. I'm not going to summon you until you're fully healed though. Let me know if I can do anything for you to heal faster."

_Do not get into any more fights?_ She questioned with a quiet laugh.

"Yeah." Harry looked at the dead body of the Defense professor. While his face was still deformed, there was nothing left in him. "You think Voldemort died too?"

_I can hope, but if Ifrit's hellfire was not enough once, it may not have been enough this time either._ Shiva answered him. _For the moment though, we must continue. You cannot get out by going back._

"God, Merlin, or whoever's listening, no more fights then."

Harry stood wobbly. The door out was behind where the troll had died. Walking through, fire rose on both doorways as seven potion bottles glittered. Stepping up to them, Harry saw a parchment. Reading it over, he laughed. "I've been answering riddles now for seven months. This isn't that hard."

_Each of these seems to be a test by each of your professors._ Shiva noted.

Harry thought about it, vaguely remembering the huge chess pieces and flying keys. "Which means that the Headmaster's test is the only one we're missing."

Harry reread the parchment once more, looking at the potion bottles. "What I wouldn't give for a bezoar right now though." He picked up the smallest bottle. "This should be it."

Drinking, Harry smiled as he didn't immediately die, nor did it taste like alcohol. In fact, it had no taste at all. Harry gingerly held his hand towards the flames going on, only to find he felt no heat now from them. Emboldened, Harry walked through them with no issue.

And came into a room with only a mirror. The heart's desire mirror. "Do I have to stand in front of it?" Harry asked out loud, but did not receive an answer.

Looking around the room, there was nothing else. The pillars hid nothing, and the only door was the one leading back to the fire room. "Fine. Hopefully it'll let someone know I'm down here."

Harry stepped up in front of it, expecting to see the last thing he'd seen before the Headmaster had taken the mirror away.

He was fairly surprised then, to find a reflection of Shiva sitting on a throne carved from ice, with a red gem pulsing at the top of it. His reflection stood next to her, eyes slit as he grinned back to Harry. Shiva's reflection reached up and pulled the gem from her throne, putting it into Harry's pocket and patting it.

Harry felt a lump appear there as well.

Both reflections waved to him, before fading away. Harry pulled the lump out of his pocket.

Mad laughter rang through his mind as Shiva cackled through her pain. _It's a Materia for Phoenix!_

* * *

So, it's only March and Harry's managed to off the DADA professor. Note, in my mind this was Quirrellmort's original plan for the dragon egg, was to cause a big enough stink for Dumbledore that he'd have to be out of the castle long enough for him to go after the stone. The fact that Harry and co. got rid of it illegally in canon threw off Q's schedule.

Read and review, please?_  
_


	16. The day after

A/N: The second half of this isn't everything I wanted it to be, but then again, I'm not certain how I really wanted it to work out. Let me know what you guys think.

* * *

Harry looked at the small red gem in his hand. "A Materia for Phoenix? Seriously?" He rolled it between his fingers. "If I had enough magic left, could I summon Fawkes, Shiva?"

_If you had the magic, yes. Looking to get rid of me?_ Shiva's voice held a smile, though Harry could tell she was still hurting.

"No, I don't want to lose you." Harry answered distractedly, still playing with the Materia. "I don't feel a connection to this Materia like I do yours, Shiva."

_Phoenix exists beyond just a Materia, Harry. You would have to reach out to him first. But before you do that, you should alert someone over the attempt to kill you._

"God, that's going to sound insane." Harry commented. "Empty in here too, so the only way out is the way back?"

Harry turned around and went back, drinking the go back potion and finding the go forward potion was completely full again. Odd, but since he didn't need to go back to the room with the mirror, he didn't drink again.

Skirting around the dead bodies, Harry ran through the troll room and back through the other tests before entering the room with the Devil's Snare.

Which Harry stared at, as the last of it feebly attempting to find purchase on anything. Most of it was a burned out mess.

"Well, I guess I don't have to worry about that as much as I thought..." Harry trailed off. There was a bang above him, and Harry looked up. One of Fluffy's heads was halfway down the trap door as it barked at him, and Harry realized he couldn't hear the music from the harp anymore.

_I guess the conjuration wore off when Professor Quirrell died?_ Harry sighed to himself as he looked up at the dog.

Harry sat in the dirt, looking up at the dog that was still scratching and trying to get through to the person he could smell and now see.

He pulled the Materia for Phoenix out again, looking at it. "Shiva, would it be possible for me to summon Fawkes like you did? He could get us out of here."

_I am not certain, but I do not want to travel in that method please. In the best of times, travel by being turned into fire and back like Phoenix's method does would be extremely painful, as I am a being of ice. Now I am not certain how well I could withstand it._

"That's out then." Harry sighed again, before taking stock of how much magic remained to him. Barely anything, maybe enough for a single low powered Command. Or a few castings with the armlet. But he didn't have anything to actually stop the Cerberus from attacking him.

"I guess he could bring the Headmaster here though." Harry held the Materia out. "Whoever Flamel is will probably want this back anyways."

_Likely._ Shiva answered him. _A Materia is quite valuable and powerful. You would just give it back after everything you went through?_

"I'm going to be found down here regardless, at this point. At least this way I get to tell my story first to the Headmaster." Harry concentrated on Fawkes and the Materia, but nothing came to mind.

_Touch the Materia with your magic. Nothing will happen if you do not have enough energy to address Phoenix, and we both know you do not have enough magic at the moment to support a summoning._

Harry nodded and touched the Materia to his armlet, focusing on his magic. He could imagine pulling a thread of his own magic from himself through the armlet and onto Pheonix's Materia.

Then the Materia pulled from his fingers. "What the hell?" Harry stared at his arm and the Materia that had sunk into the armlet on its own.

The thread had disappeared as well, not staying as the one with Shiva was. _Fawkes?_ Harry asked mentally.

_I do not hear him, Harry._ Shiva answered.

Harry pushed a little more magic from his own center to the armlet, touching the Materia that was not Shiva. He felt a connection. _Fawkes?_

A light voice answered, filled with amusement. _I am not my fragment, youngling. I would say just like Shiva is not like her entirety, but it is shocking that she even exists as a part. I was witness to her death, after all._

_My death?_ Shiva echoed through Harry's head.

_Your death. A cataclysm erupted in Atlantis, and the shock ruptured every Materia and ourselves. Even the full aspects fell. My survival was dependent on my rebirth, very painful to say the least as it was never meant for the rebirth of a full aspect of power, just my Espers._

Harry coughed. "I hate to interrupt, but can we finish this where I have something to write with? I'd really like to get out of here and actually be able to remember this whole conversation."

Harry felt a push from the connection between him and Phoenix's Materia. _"Wow, you are nearly empty in magic. If you cannot summon me, I will send a fragment. But you owe me a favor that must be repaid."_

"Deal." Harry answered out loud.

"_No fire travel."_ Shiva added quickly.

Harry felt agreement come from Phoenix, whose mental presence then faded as the connection between Harry and the Materia snapped due to his low magic.

_Phoenix is fair in his dealings, Harry, but in the future never agree to owing someone without defining how you owe them. Had it been Hades or Anima you blindly agreed with, the return favor might have been deadly to you._ Shiva spoke in the quiet of Harry's mind.

Harry gulped. "Right, no more agreeing without knowing what I'm getting into."

Harry didn't have time for to say anything else, as fire suddenly burned in front of him, and a phoenix appeared. Unlike Fawkes, this one had white highlights on the feathers instead of deep reds.

The phoenix trilled and landed on Harry's shoulder. "No fire travel." Harry said as he felt Shiva's spike of unease.

The phoenix just trilled once more before Harry felt the claws grasp him, but not pierce his skin. Song filled the air as the phoenix sang, and Harry saw above Fluffy quit digging, but only partially slide out of the trapdoor hole. Harry felt the magic in the song wind its way into his body, lifting his spirits.

Harry didn't have time to comment on that before the phoenix beat it's wings and rose into the air, Harry being pulled up with it. "Woah!"

As it rose, the phoenix continued singing and Harry was amazed to see the small bird nudge the Cerberus out of the way enough for it to lift Harry completely out of the below room. Depositing Harry on the ground, the first year scrambled out of the way as soon as he was let go, getting to the other side of the room.

The phoenix trilled once more as its song stopped and disappeared into fire once more.

Harry watched as Fluffy woke quickly and then started growling at Harry. He quickly left the room.

_Either find someone to tell about the dead teacher or go to bed, Harry. You are in no shape, physically or magically, to hold a protracted conversation with Phoenix in a manner you will understand._ Shiva said before Harry could begin thinking.

"Sleep?" Harry offered as he began quietly walking back towards Ravenclaw Tower. "It's not like anything is going to get worse before tomorrow morning, and I probably couldn't find Professor Flitwick at this time of night anyways."

* * *

"I was going to try to see you anyways, Professor Flitwick." Harry sat in Professor Flitwick's office the next morning, having been directed to go there even before breakfast.

"And why might that be, Mr. Potter? Is it about your detention last night?" Flitwick looked at Harry with curiosity. "Because that is why I asked for you this morning."

Harry sighed, nodding. "Professor Quirrell tried to kill me last night."

Flitwick half nodded, before pausing and staring at Harry. "Excuse me?"

"He took me to the third floor corridor." Harry explained. "He said it was to test the defenses. He then used some weird magic to control me. When we got to a troll, he told me to fight it like I did his other one. I summoned Shiva and that broke his control magic."

His voice was clipped as he relayed the first part of the fight, then became more unsteady as he described the ice being broken. "The professor was the host for Voldemort."

Flitwick shuddered and stared at Harry.

"I ended up killing them, because he was trying to kill me. The body is still in the room there?" Harry offered.

_Will you tell him about Phoenix?_ Shiva questioned.

_Yeah. I'm not certain how I'd get the Materia out of the armlet anyways._ Harry answered her.

"I managed to get back out after everything and went to bed. I didn't think I would be able to find anyone, and I was really, really wiped out."

"Merciful Merlin." Flitwick breathed. "You managed to...You were able to..." Flitwick was at a loss for words.

Harry just sat there, waiting for Flitwick to speak.

The Charms professor took a breath. "Mr. Potter. You are telling me that You-Know-Who was in the school as Professor Quirrell? And you managed to kill him?"

Harry nodded.

"We'll need to speak with Albus." Flitwick said, shaking his head and then giving Harry a quizzical look. "Did you go any further than the room with the troll in it?"

Harry looked at his professor and nodded. "A room with a potion puzzle and then the room with the mirror in it. I was hoping to trigger something to get one of the professors or the headmaster to come down there."

"Let's go speak with the Headmaster. He'll need to be involved in this." Flitwick stood from his desk. "He got back this morning."

* * *

Harry sat in the Headmaster's office in one of the chairs while Professor Flitwick sat in another. Fawkes was apparently asleep, head tucked under one wing. The Headmaster sat across from the two, quiet as Harry related the tale of the fight yet again, and nodded at Harry's descriptions.

Finally after Harry told the entire story of the fight, Dumbledore sighed. "I had not realized that Professor Quirrell had succumbed to Voldemort's spirit. For that, I am truly saddened by his passing." The headmaster was quiet for a moment.

He then looked up at Harry. "You made it by yourself the rest of the way then, Harry?"

"Yes sir. To the mirror." Harry nodded, knowing where the question was going. "I got the stone out of it as well."

Flitwick sputtered. "Albus, I thought that it was supposed to be safe? If a first year could get that stone, then how did you expect it to stop You-Know-Who?"

"I enchanted the mirror to only give the stone to one who would not use it, but protect it. Had Voldemort stood in front of the mirror, he would only have seen himself using it." Dumbledore explained, before looking at Harry. "May I have the stone back, Harry? I will need to discuss its existence with Nicholas."

Harry shook his head and bared his arm, showing the two gems now in the armlet. "I accidentally got it to absorb into my armlet. I don't know if I can remove it."

Harry had never explained that the original gem in the armlet was a Materia for Shiva to anyone, and upon seeing the two almost completely identical red gems side by side it could be forgiven for the start Dumbledore gave.

"Your armlet has been host for a Philosopher's Stone, and now it has a second?" The headmaster's voice was filled with a quiet amazement.

_You will need to correct him, Harry._ Shiva's voice was quiet in Harry's mind.

_I figured you wanted to keep the fact that the Materia is what summons you quiet._ Harry mentally responded back to her.

_You are not likely to be able to leave without explaining regardless. Give the information on your terms, not forced on theirs._

Harry sighed, both mentally and out loud. "Headmaster, I don't know what a Philosopher's Stone is. But they are Materia. One for Shiva, and one for Phoenix."

Fawkes chirped at that, waking up at the mention of Phoenix. Dumbledore looked over at his familiar, before looking back to Harry. "Materia?"

"It's what lets me summon Shiva. And now Phoenix, I guess. Though I want to actually talk to Phoenix first before I even attempt summoning him."

"Albus?" Flitwick asked, watching curiously as the headmaster again had a look of mild amazement on his face.

"I think I need to speak with Nicholas about this. I had no idea his Philosopher's Stone was something like this."

"So I'm not in any trouble?" Harry had to ask.

"No, Harry. Although I would ask that you at least try to remove the... Materia... from your armlet. Nicholas will no doubt want it back."

Harry ran his finger over Phoenix's Materia but could not even find an actual edge to try to pry at the gem. "I don't think it's going to come out, Headmaster."

Dumbledore gave Harry a grandfatherly smile. "I'm beginning to become more and more interested in your armlet. I have yet to devise a way to put the Trace on it reliably, either. Ah well, I will talk to Nicholas and see what he thinks about this and his stone. He may perhaps know more about this and will be able to reclaim it." He nodded. "Go ahead and return to your dorm, Harry."

Harry nodded and stood, making his way out of the Headmaster's office. As he left, he heard Professor Flitwick ask a question. "What are you going to do about the next two months worth of Defense classes, and a dead Defense teacher?"

* * *

The school day dragged on as Harry went through the motions, glad beyond measure that he didn't have Potions that day. Snape would have likely given him a dozen detentions for nearly falling asleep, as he did in both Transfiguration and Herbology.

But he managed to slog through it and made it back to the common room that evening, nearly collapsing into one of the few overstuffed chairs.

"You got yanked out of the tower early and we were so busy today, I never got a chance to talk to you. Detention last night that bad?" Hermione said as she sat down in another chair near Harry.

Harry raised his head up enough to look at her before groaning "Understatement of the century."

"What happened?" Hermione asked him, curious.

Harry looked at his friend, thinking on it. "We don't have a Defense teacher anymore." He finally said.

"What!" Hermione shouted, her voice catching the attention of the rest of the common room. She blushed at that, before quieting down and repeating her question. "What?"

Harry shrugged, yawning and still tired. "Detention was on the third floor corridor. Apparently, he was playing host for Voldemort. I made it back from the detention, Professor Quirrell didn't."

Though Harry was speaking quietly, he still saw several flinches go through the nearby students. _Huh, that's one way to see if anyone is listening in_, he thought to himself.

At the name though, he was given disbelieving looks before the other students moved further away.

Hermione looked fairly incredulous as well. "You're kidding, right?" She looked at Harry. "Right?"

Harry shook his head.

"My God, Harry. But, what, how?"

"Luck and fire. That's what saved me from him." Harry sighed. "I wonder what they'll say about it." Harry reached down into his bag and pulled out a roll of parchment and offered it to her. "Can we finish this later? I'll let you read the stuff I found out about mithril..."

Hermione took the roll and smiled. "Do you mind if I share this with anyone?" She asked. "And don't think this gets you out of telling me the rest of the story later."

Harry shook his head. "I guess not."

Hermione grinned and jumped up, hugging Harry in his chair for a moment before rushing off. She grabbed Padma out of her chair and was waving the rolled parchment at her. Harry didn't bother listening to what she was saying.

"_An interesting way to send her off"._ Shiva said, appearing in front of Harry, sitting on the table. Harry smiled at her.

_It was the stuff I was going to give her back after Halloween anyways. I'd forgotten about it until now, and it made a good way to have the conversation with Phoenix now, right?_ Harry replied.

_True._ Shiva acknowledged.

Harry focused, drawing a bit of his magic and mentally touching Phoenix's Materia with it, connecting to it once more.

_Hello again, youngling._ Harry felt a push back from the connection again. _You have recovered much of your magic. Do you wish to continue our conversation once more?_

Harry nodded, pulling out another roll of parchment, setting it next to the ethereal Shiva, and looked at her legs for a moment, before pulling his mind back to what he was doing. _Yes sir. What happened?_

_Atlantis overstretched their power and tried to tap into an aspect directly instead of through what they were given. I do not know which aspect it was, but they could not contain the power. It backlashed into all of us, shattering every Materia, every Esper. The loss of so much extended power even shattered the connections to our places of power._

Harry continued writing as Phoenix explained. _When that connection broke, we fell. So much of our essence was invested there that without those bonds, we starved for power and perished._

Harry felt a rueful chuckle go through his mind from the firebird. _The destruction even shattered the land._

"_That explains why I do not recognize the maps of the land. I could not point out the Throne of Ice."_ Shiva interjected.

_That is your challenge to return to it, I believe, and I cannot help you if you are to regain your full might. I had to regain my own alone, after all._

_Could you tell me?_ Harry asked.

_You bear Shiva's last Materia, her only connection. Telling you is telling her. But the scenery has not changed._

_Mountains then_. Shiva said. _Deep in the mountains._


	17. The quiet part of the year

A/N: This first part of this probably should have just been dumped in with the last chapter, but it wasn't, so sue me. Enjoy!

* * *

The next day, Harry found out that Professor Dumbledore was teaching the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. He did not provide anyone that asked with a real answer as to why Professor Quirrell was not longer teaching, though Harry knew and a number of Ravenclaw at least suspected, after having listened to his conversation the night before.

Harry stayed on pins and needles for almost an entire week, spending time in the library researching Nicholas Flamel and his Philosopher's Stone. The Elixir of Life and the creation of gold?

Harry flipped the book closed. "How would you create an Elixir from a Materia?" He questioned quietly, looking over to the healed Shiva who was watching him.

"_You would not. I am uncertain as to what type of Elixir might give eternal life."_ Shiva answered.

"Phoenix tears, cried for their summoner and given to another, madam." A voice said behind Harry.

Harry jumped out of his chair and turned, staring at the man behind him who had spoken. Who was actually looking at the place where the etheral Shiva was sitting.

The man, who had dark brown hair and looked to maybe be thirty, was staring at Shiva curiously, while Shiva stared back in utter atonishment.

"A stable quasi-summon? You're not a phoenix though. Albus told me that there was a second gem, I assumed it was another Phoenix..." He spoke, before turning to Harry. "Hello, Mr. Potter. I am Nicholas Flamel."

Harry gaped for a moment, before catching himself. "Uh, hello Mr. Flamel?" Harry looked around, to find the library was empty.

He waved to the seat and Harry sunk back into it. "Now, I thought I was coming here to reclaim my stone, but I think I need a better idea of what has happened here. Would either of you care to explain this to me?" Nicholas asked.

"_How is it that you are able to fully see and hear me? Even the teachers here only see the form of my and Harry's magic in a location."_ Shiva questioned.

"I am old enough that I have experience with strange magics. I have never stopped learning in my almost eight hundred years of life." Nicholas explained to the two and then looked at Shiva. "Now, would you please explain yourself?"

Shiva frowned and let go of her form, vanishing.

Harry looked at the Alchemist and rolled his robe sleeve up, showing his armlet. "Potter's Folly, a mithril armlet. I managed to get it out of Gringotts and Shiva came with it. When I couldn't use a wand, Hagrid and Mr. Olivander brought me to the school early because of it. The Headmaster thought it was a cursed object because Shiva was talking to me, so she asked that I summon her to let her deal with it."

Nicholas blinked. "You summoned her? But she wasn't a full summon just now, and vanished? That is not Phoenix's method."

"Phoenix's method?" Harry asked.

Nicholas held his hand up for a moment. Fire bloomed in the air in front of him and Fawkes appeared as the flame receeded. The phoenix trilled a few notes before landing on the table. "Everything has its price, Mr. Potter. The price for immortality is to bind half your magic into a fragment of Phoenix. Fawkes is my fragment, and the magic bound in him grows as mine does. Fawkes ages for me, and I cannot dismiss him as Shiva apparently does when you give her a body."

Shiva appeared again, looking curious and staring at Fawkes. _"That would explain your own immortality. Harry offers magic to form my Esper body, and when that body is exhausted it falls apart. But it would not seal away that magic from Harry permanently, he can recover it even as I still have a body. The Esper of Phoenix keeps a permanent draw on your own magic to tap into your life processes."_

Harry was quickly writing this down as Nicholas looked at the woman with interest. "Esper? I've never heard that word before. But that's a fair description of what I've discovered."

Harry had a thoughtful look on his face before asking a question of Nicholas. "Would you let me keep the Phoenix Materia then? If you've already summoned Fawkes, you're not going to do it again, right?"

Nicholas chuckled. "No, I'm not going to devote the other half of my magic to another phoenix. But do you understand what you are asking? You're asking me to let you have a key to immortality. Between that and the fact that you are wearing enough mithril to ward a small kingdom, you're not likely to be left alone."

Nicholas paused. "Actually, just the armlet will do that. What plans do you have for the summer to keep yourself from being accosted by someone out to steal your armlet, or even outright take your life for it?"

Harry opened his mouth to argue, but stopped, thinking about what Quirrell and Voldemort had said. "I don't have one. I guess I have a couple of months to come up with one though." Harry looked at Shiva then. "Worse comes to worse, I can summon you and we can do some damage to escape."

"_And if control magic is cast like what previously happened?"_ Shiva questioned him back.

Harry didn't have an answer for that.

"Do you have magical or Muggle guardians, Mr. Potter?" Nicholas finally asked after several moments of silence.

"My Aunt and Uncle are both Muggles. They don't like magic." Harry answered him.

Nicholas nodded. "I will speak with Albus. Since your wearing mithril is common knowledge, I would hope he expects you to have troubles outside the school." He paused. "Though your troubles inside the school are bad enough, apparently. But I digress. I will sponsor you for the summer, to teach you enough that if you are attacked, you will be able to get away."

Harry had a huge smile on his face. "Really? That'd be cool. What do you think I could learn?"

"More direct manipulation of magic. A single summer is not enough time to teach you combat at a level against people who want to kill you, but I can teach you to understand how to protect yourself."

Nicholas looked to Shiva. "Your power would be a help to him in that, madam." Shiva nodded. He then looked back to Harry. "However, I do not think the world ready for an immortal eleven year old. Perhaps when you are older you will be the next to hold that particular stone."

Harry sighed. "I asked, because I can't remove it." He offered his arm out, touching Phoenix's Materia. "Can you?"

Nicholas looked at the armlet, before reaching out to touch the gem. His fingers laid on it for several seconds before he pulled them back, looking at the stone with a frown. "Fawkes, can you remove it?"

The phoenix trilled a note, but did not move towards Harry.

Shiva let out a small laugh. _"That was much more power than the Trace magic Harry's Headmaster attempted on the armlet. May I enquire as to what you were attempting to cast?"_

Nicholas gave her a long look, then looked back to the armlet. "You could feel that? Very interesting. But as to your question, I have a link with that stone, as I am the last person to use it. I should have been able to easily reestablish my bond and call it from that. But the armlet disbursed the magic I was trying to use."

He tapped his chin, thinking. "Would you mind if I tried to remove your armlet then, Mr. Potter? I will give it back when it comes off, I just want to see what it will take."

Harry shrugged and nodded.

Nicholas pulled a wand from inside his robe and pointed it at Harry's arm. "Alohamora." The armlet did not move. Harry listened as the Master Alchemist moved onto other spells, each one being defeated by the armlet.

Shiva finally gave up her form once more as Harry heard her laughter echoing through his mind. He grinned as well, and tried to keep track of all the different spells.

After twenty minutes, Nicholas stopped and looked at Harry. "I went through minor, moderate, and major unlocking charms. The same level of disarming charms and even a few moderate hexes to make you lose the item affected. Six different wanded casting systems. Nothing."

"Shiva has been laughing hysterically at the sensation since about the fifth minute." Harry offered.

"That doesn't make me feel any better about it." Nicholas laughed in spite of that. "For the moment, I will have to admit defeat in removing your armlet or my stone. However, that does not absolve you of needing protection from someone willing to kill to take that from you. You are a Ravenclaw?"

Harry nodded at the question, not sure where he was going with it.

"You'll enjoy the mental workout I'll put you through then. Let's go let Albus know of your summer plans." Nicholas stood.

Harry stood as well. "I really like the idea of not going back to my Aunt and Uncles, but don't I need their permission?" He thought about the permission slips for field trips that had been torn up and laughed at.

Nicholas looked at Harry. "They're Muggles. While I have nothing against any Muggle, by British wizarding law they have no rights to deny you an education. I am an accredited teacher and will be teaching you this summer."

Harry paused. "Seriously?"

Nicholas shrugged and nodded. "Muggles really don't have many rights at all under wizard law. Especially ones that are not direct lineage of a witch or wizard."

* * *

Harry again found himself in the Headmaster's office sitting quietly while the adults argued over him. It was beginning to become almost common.

"Harry needs the protection afforded to him by his blood relatives." Dumbledore was apparently not happy at all about many things, including Nicholas' offer and inability to remove Phoenix's Materia.

Nicholas was standing, leaning against the desk. "Albus, whatever protection he may get from his Muggle family is going to be nothing compared to the people that will buy his home location from the Ministry. The average Muggle house will take a few good blasting curses to drop, then they can sift the rubble for a body to get his armlet."

The headmaster looked at Harry for a moment, before looking back to Nicholas. "His home is warded against those that would do him harm."

"Fat lot of good that did me." Harry grumbled under his breath.

The room got quiet as both adults turned to look at Harry fully now. "Excuse me?" Nicholas questioned Harry.

"I had to spend August here because my aunt and uncle wouldn't take me back. My cousin has a game called Harry Hunting he plays. The object of the game is for Dudley and his friends to give me a five second head start, before they chase after me to beat me."

He was getting on a roll with this. Even after everything crazy that had happened at Hogwarts, it was still better here than there. And the chance to not go back for the summer for the worst chores, since Harry knew Uncle Vernon wouldn't have had Dudley doing any chores.

"I get worked to the bone there, fed as little as possible, and did you know that my first letter was addressed to the Cupboard Under the Stairs? They finally moved me to Dudley's second bedroom at that, because I think they didn't want to get caught." Harry continued on.

"Harry, I think you are over exaggerating." The Headmaster interrupted. "They are your family."

Harry just gave the headmaster a look of disbelief and shook his head.

"I think I'll take a look at these wards, Albus. You're leaning on his family a little much for them to not be blood related, considering you couldn't put wards stronger than the ones at Hogwarts on a muggle home." Nicholas looked thoughtful. "It will give me a chance to figure out if Mr. Potter is telling or stretching the truth."

Harry shrugged. "I've been here for about eight months. Do you realize I've probably had more to eat in that time than in the three years prior?" Harry added. "Since I've been told to disregard what my 'family' told me, I have assumed that the Department of Health doesn't suggest freaks only get one small meal a day?"

Both adults started at that. Nicholas looked over at Dumbledore, who wore a frown now. "Harry, you were told that?"

Harry sighed. Shiva appeared once more and Nicholas nodded to her as she laid a hand on Harry's shoulder in comfort. "That was just one of my rules. You do realize my uncle actually had me registered for St. Brutus' School for Criminal Boys? I would have started that when I was twelve, because that's the youngest they accept. That's where the worst people and all the freaks go, you know." Harry's last sentence sounded like he was quoting someone.

"I'll be teaching him this summer, Albus." Nicholas looked to the headmaster once more, his eyes daring the man to continue arguing. "If we must continue this, I still have one more apprentice to claim before the old laws can be completely retired."

Dumbledore shook his head slowly. "I welcome a chance for a student to gain more knowledge." He looked older at that moment, sighing. "It appears Minerva was right."

Nicholas just shook his head, before turning to Harry and Shiva. "Mr. Potter, you'll ride the Express back to Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Once you're there, I'll pick you up. Understand?"

Harry nodded.

"Good. Now that that is finished, I'd like to have a word with Albus without you here, Mr. Potter." Nicholas said, waving Harry off. "This has nothing to do with you, so don't worry."

"Alright. I'll see you in a couple of months then, Mr. Flamel?" Harry asked as he stood from his seat.

"Yes."

* * *

Harry found that by the fourth retelling, the story was getting to be a bit stale as he related to everyone in the common room who wanted to hear his side of what had happened.

"Seriously?" One of the older students was laughing. "The Cerberus and the troll are about the only things I'd be afraid of there. From what you're saying everything else was passable. Why have the real key actually flying around?" He chuckled.

"Better yet, why have a poison puzzle and not just make them all poison?" Padma asked. "You say they were protecting something beyond there, correct Harry?"

Harry nodded. Picking apart the protections verbally was much more fun than actually being down there.

"Why not have them all be deadly poison then, and the Headmaster have the actual required potions on him?"

"From what you're describing Harry, they sound more like challenges than protections." A seventh year added. "Tests to see if the one trying is worth passing beyond."

"And a first year passed them? Doesn't say much for them, does it?" Harry shook his head.

"Quirrell passed several of them for you." Roger reminded him.

Harry shrugged. "Alright, so it might have taken two or three first years. Someone decent with plants and anybody who has won the chess tournaments in here. I could have got the key by flying for it."

"And the troll? You got lucky that Quirrell took it out for you and you escaped at that point."

"Fire. I've gotten good enough with the Levitation charm to pull the club from it if I had to as well, though I'm not sure what I'd do with it after that."

The rest of the school year went quietly enough, even with Hermione trying to ramp up the first year study group for the end of year exams. Quickly pointing out they were already on second year work stopped her from going too far overboard.

* * *

Harry sat at the end of year feast after the exams, chatting with the others.

"So, Ravenclaw sweeps the first year exams?" Hermione asked her housemates.

"Yeah, looks like we all took the top spots, except Potions." Michael Corner agreed.

Harry shook his head. "We'll never get Potions with me. Professor Snape has entirely too much against me to not go overboard in grading me."

"So what do we need to do next year to get you higher than the Slytherins in Potions?" Su Li asked, looking at her housemates.

"You'd need to be able to make medical grade potions, and your notes and essays would have to pass for research on experimental potions every time." Roger leaned over from where he was sitting. "That's what any of us have to do to get a better Potions grade than a Slytherin.

Harry rolled his eyes. "That's insane."

Roger jabbed a finger towards the Slytherin banners on the wall, denoting their win of the House Cup. "Blatant favoritism, Harry. Even with your little sheet showing how many goals Ravenclaw needed to overcome the points we lost, it isn't like more aren't awarded to offset it."

"That's annoying." Was all Harry had to say about that. "So, do you think the Headmaster will be teaching Defense again next year?"

Penelope spoke up at that. "No. The Headmaster only takes up the classes when there isn't any other choice. He did the last month for DADA my first year when Professor Ipswitch vanished. He manages to get a new Professor every time we lose one."

"That's not a good thing for our long term learning." Hermione said.

"No, which is why we mostly do self-study at the higher years. There's a few OWL and NEWT guides floating around." Penelope assured Hermione.

Harry looked up at the professor's table for a moment, shaking his head at the empty Defense teacher's spot. _Wonder who we'll get next year._

_Preferably not the Dark Lord character again._ Shiva answered.

Harry shook his head. _God, I hope not._

* * *

"Potter!" The door into the train compartment slid open as Draco walked in, Crabbe and Goyle behind him.

"Draco? Seriously?" Harry looked up at the Slytherin, taking his eyes off the passing scenery. "What do you want?"

Padma, Hermione, and Terry Boot looked at the boy as well.

"I came to congratulate you on surviving. I'd have figured you would have run off before Christmas. Do you think I'll have to see your face again next year?" Draco sneered at Harry.

Harry dropped his face into his hands, and Draco chuckled. "Aww, is poor Potty crying now?"

Harry shook his head in his hands, finally giving over to laughs. "Seriously? I was third in our year, Malfoy. I survived the third floor corridor, which if you'll remember right was supposed to lead to a quick, painful death. What makes you think anything you say could cause me to cry?"

Draco just sniffed. "Just because you are afraid of the practical and aced the theory doesn't mean you're not a Squib, Potter. I figure even with that mithril focus, you're probably at the edges of your magical ability. Second year will end up being too much for you, I can already tell."

"You know, that wasn't even funny the first time. Can you try something new?" Terry spoke up.

Goyle stepped forward, reaching for Terry for commenting.

"Petrificus Totalis" two voices spoke up as Hermione and Padma froze both of Draco's bodyguards. Terry watched with amusement as they fell to the ground.

Harry looked over to them as well and then smiled at Draco. "At least they're not toads this time, right?"

Harry touched his armlet and drew in the air for a moment. "Finite."

Both Crabbe and Goyle relaxed for a moment, before jumping and climbing back to their feet.

"Seriously, Draco. Find something else to pick at, because you're not getting anywhere with that. Four to three isn't good odds for you."

Draco just gaped for a moment, before turning around to leave. "You'll get yours in the end, Potter. Just like your parents."

Harry scowled at Draco's back, but before he could do anything he felt a tug on his magic as Shiva appeared. She put her ethereal hands through Draco's head, who jumped at the icy magic that released into him and Shiva vanished once more.

_He needed that, and you did not need to turn them into toads or imps. There would be less chance of someone removing the spell this time when we stop._ Shiva said, before Harry could ask why.

_Thanks._ Harry thought back to her as Draco hurried out of the compartment with his two cronies, holding his head like he had a major headache.

As the compartment door slid shut, Harry grinned at the others. "Thanks for that."

The three just grinned back. "No reason for that prat to have taken first in the year in Potions." Terry said.

Padma sniffed, and Hermione just shook her head.

* * *

Disembarking at King's Cross Station, Harry pulled his trunk behind him as he sat on the wizarding side of the platform, watching as parents picked up his classmates.

Hermione had said a quick goodbye and rushed through the portal to look for her parents. He hadn't seen any of the others in his year nearby to say goodbye to.

After almost twenty minutes of waiting as the crowds thinned out, there was a burst of flame in the air. What crowd was left watched as the flame quickly turned into a phoenix, with a man holding onto it's tail feathers.

Harry raised an eyebrow. _That's the same fragment that helped us get out of the third floor._

Shiva appeared and looked as well. _"Very interesting. I had thought he said he did not summon a second fragment?"_

Nicholas let go of the tail feathers and the white tipped phoenix seemed to almost float in the air, sailing over to Harry who stood up.

"Ah, Mr. Potter. Are you ready to go?" Nicholas asked with a smile, before nodding politely to Shiva.

"_Must we go by fire? I am a being of ice."_ Shiva's voice was the closest to a complaint as Harry had ever heard.

_Are you going to be ok if we have to?_ Harry quickly thought. Harry felt uncertainty come back from her.

Nicholas, however, had a look of interest on his face. "I had not realized, though maybe I should have." He nodded. "Apparation then. I can Side-Along you."

"_Thank you."_ Shiva nodded, before vanishing.

Nicholas waved his hand, and Harry's trunk shrunk down. Harry grabbed it and pocketed it. "Ready then, Mr. Potter?"

Harry nodded.

Nicholas placed his hand on Harry's shoulder, and then the two vanished with a strong crack as Harry felt himself compressed and sucked through something.

Still at the station, several people were looking at the spot Harry and Nicholas had left.

"Draco, do you realize who that was?" The older Malfoy asked his son.

"Potter. He complained he lived with Muggles, but I see that was a lie. I do not recognize the man though, a cousin perhaps?" Draco looked at his father.

"That was Nicholas Flamel. How did you manage to not make the friendship of a boy who appears to personally know the Alchemist, well enough that he would pick the boy up himself?" Lucius asked, looking disappointed at him.

Draco cringed. "I did not know, Father."

"You obviously have not been paying attention then. We will have to correct your inability to pay attention to those around you this summer."

* * *

So, that's the end of the year. Summer vacation with the Flamel's will be in this story as well, before I move into second year and beyond with a new story.

Read and review!


	18. Summer at the Flamel's

A/N: This is the last chapter of this story. Interestingly enough, it's also the largest. I'll post a notice when the next story goes up.

* * *

The compression built and built until it felt like he'd be squeezed out of existence until with a pop, he reappeared, Nicholas' hand still on his shoulder.

Harry wobbled for a moment, trying to keep his balance before finally giving it up and sitting down hard. "Whoa."

Thankfully he sat onto soft grass. As his brain slowly stopped trying to break its way out of his head, Harry looked around. A rather large, well taken care of front yard led up to a modest, single story home of red brick. There was a porch out front with a small swing.

"Side-Along Apparation across the country throw you for a bit of a loop, Mr. Potter?" Nicholas asked, offering Harry a hand.

Harry took it and pulled himself standing again, looking around again. "Where are we, sir?"

"My home, of course." Nicholas told him, walking towards the house. "More specifically, the northern part of France, a little ways from La Havre."

"Oh, neat."

Ahead of them, a fire burned and the phoenix that had brought Nicholas to England appeared. It swooped forward through an open window.

"I thought you said you wouldn't create another phoenix, sir?" Harry asked.

"Iris belongs to my wife Pernelle." Nicholas explained to him.

Before the two could reach the door, it opened. A woman with deeply tanned skin and deep red, almost black hair leaned against the door frame. Rich brown eyes sparkled as she smiled at the two. "Iris is quite put out with you, husband. After all that wheedling you did to get her to bring the two of you back, and now you Apparate?"

Nicholas smiled back at her as Harry tried to swallow past a sudden lump in his throat. "His summon companion is ice, and travel by fire might melt her."

Shiva appeared at that, a frown on her face. _"I did not say that."_

Nicholas nodded. "But you inferred, and it would be remise of me to deal you harm where you deserve none."

Pernelle's brow creased in slight confusion at the spot Shiva stood at. "Interesting magic. I do not hear you, but I do see your body shape." Her smile reappeared though as she looked at Harry. "Be welcome in our home, and may your heart's strength never wane."

Harry blinked. "Um, thank you very much?"

She nodded back to him. "Come then. I have a meal prepared." She turned and Harry watched as her long hair spun and resettled almost perfectly as she walked back through the door into the house.

Harry felt a hand on his shoulder again. "The home is Pernelle's domain, by her choice and her magics. She has invited you into it, but if you are told not to enter somewhere, don't." Nicholas said quietly, before leading Harry in.

Inside the home it was more spacious than it might have seemed from the outside, and Nicholas led Harry through a large receiving room into a smaller dining area. There, Harry was treated to the sight of the barely five foot tall woman finishing setting the table by hand, but the plates she hadn't set were hovering over her shoulder waiting on her to grab them.

Nicholas directed Harry to sit down. He then picked up Pernelle as she finished with the last the plates and spun her around, kissing her before putting her back on her feet as Harry blushed watching.

Nicholas then sat down and looked at Harry as he began serving the food. "Now, do you know what you'll be studying this summer, Harry?"

"You said a more direct manipulation of magic, to learn how to defend myself. Beyond that, no sir." Harry answered.

"Yes." Nicholas said, pointing a fork at Harry. "I'll be putting a lot of theory on you this summer. I will be teaching you one spell at a time, and then we will tear it apart Arithmantically. How many spells you learn is up to you. Practical application will be whenever and wherever I decide they need to happen. If you wish to learn other magic besides what I teach you, my library will be open to you."

Harry nodded with a smile, taking a bite of the tortilla wrapped meat before quickly taking a large sip of water as the heat hit him, feeling like it was setting his tongue on fire.

Nicholas snapped his fingers, looking over at his wife. "Pernelle?"

"Yes husband?" Her smile had a mischievous streak in it.

He pointed to Harry, who was now looking at the meal he'd been given carefully. "You didn't spice it like you usually do. I'd expected to see Harry blow steam from the heat."

Harry looked up and stared at the man, eyes wide. Pernelle just shook her head and gave a single laugh. "You yourself said his summon spirit was of ice. I did not know if he shared her element, so I did not add the table spice to his meal."

Nicholas nodded, before taking a bite of his own food. Harry watched as he turned beet red and let steam out of both his mouth and ears, much like the Pepper-Up potion he'd read about did. The alchemist coughed and grabbed his own water, chugging.

"I put both his and yours in yours, instead." Now her smile had a full tilt to it as she watched him, before leaning forward and touching his cheek fondly. "You take too much enjoyment in watching others eat my meals, husband. This time, your guest gets that."

Harry watched with interest as the color quickly faded from Nicholas' face where his wife touched him, before spreading out. After a few seconds, he was normal colored again.

Nicholas just threw his wife a smile. "I love you too." The words were not sarcastic in the least, for all that Harry could tell. He then looked at Harry. "First bite is always the worst, before you get used to it. I promise the rest won't seem as hot."

He proved his point by taking another bite of his own that didn't turn him red at all.

Harry looked at his own meal and then to Pernelle, who smiled and nodded. Taking a bite, Harry was surprised to feel the heat, but not a reaction to it.

"To take the first step on the coals is to know pain." Pernelle said to him. "To take the second step is to already know what is there."

* * *

The next morning found Harry sitting in a richly furnished study. On one wall was several racks that might have at one point been for wine, but currently had rolls of parchment in each cubby. On the other walls were bookshelves. Nearly centered in the room was a big desk, covered in more parchment, paper, and books.

Shiva stood to one side, watching.

Nicholas Flamel was leaning against said desk, a wand held casually in his fingers as he spoke to the seated boy. "The first thing in defensive magic is to shield yourself. Generalized shield charms have been around for thousands of years, yet most people do not learn them. Why? Because the amount of magic required of them to ward off more than the most minor of jinxes can become prohibitive for most wizards."

Harry nodded. He'd been told not to write anything down from lectures, so he refrained from doing so. Even though he had enough parchment on hand at the moment to redo all of his year's lessons again.

Nicholas made a small circle with his wand and called "Protego!" A light gold, translucent wall appeared between student and teacher.

"This is the Protego spell. It's the most basic of wanded Shield charms. At the minimum, I can now block any minor jinx or hex you might have learned. Each spell it stops, however, reduces the effectiveness of the shield. See how many it takes to go through it." Nicholas waved his hand to Harry through the shield.

Harry stood and touched his armlet, drawing his magic to his fingertips. Two Jelly Legs, a Tickler, and then a Leg Locker all hit the shield. Each spell disappated harmlessly until the Leg Locker broke it completely and even a portion of it passed through.

Flamel caught the spell on his wand and redirected it into the floor where it faded, before nodding at Harry's spell selection.

"Not bad, not bad. I hadn't thought you would know the Leg Locker. But that goes to my next point. A weakened shield eventually cannot fully stop a hex or jinx. A powerful enough spell can also plow through a shield and only lose part of its energy. Now, your turn to cast the spell. A single circle, focus on the shield, and call Protego."

Harry nodded, touching his armlet once more. Taking a breath, he drew a circle in the air. "Protego!" and let the magic go. The circle seemed to pulse for a moment with a subdued light before fading instead of expanding into the shield.

"Continue. We have all day, or at least until you drive yourself into exhaustion. I do not think it will take that long." Nicholas stood back.

So Harry continued to draw circles in the air and attempt to cast for the next hour. Occasionally he would get a shield, but it was not smooth and big enough. Nicholas would send a single hex or two into it and shatter it.

Finally Harry got fed up with it. Drawing the circle once more, he left his finger on the edge of it as he let his magic fill the inside. "Protego!" he yelled again, this time pulling the circle with his finger.

The circle almost blew outwards, quiet gold light spilling out of the perfectly formed shield.

"Attempt one hundred twenty seven. I have to admit, I figured you would have slumped from magical exhaustion before you hit a hundred. Let's see how well it holds up." Flamel jabbed his wand at the shield, sending a reddish hex at it. The shield didn't buckle or even fade more than a hair.

"Nice, nice. Now to test the strength of it, to baseline you." What followed was nearly a flood of minor hexes and jinxes that caused the golden shield to bend, buckle, and break within ten seconds. As soon as it did, the spells stopped, not a single one actually hitting Harry.

"Nine minor jinxes, two minor hexes, and a moderate hex. That's a fair bit of shield." Harry looked down at the complement, grinning slightly. "Now, cast it again to prove it wasn't an energized fluke."

Harry did so, the shield springing into being once more.

"Alright, go ahead and drop it. Now comes the more interesting part. Picking apart the spell."

Nicholas turned to the desk, running his hand over the papers and causing them to roll up, flying into different slots on the scroll rack. He crooked his finger and a different scroll flew out, landing on the top of the now empty desk.

Unrolling it, Harry's eyes crossed at the diagrams and numbers laid out there. "This is the Protego, laid out through Arithmancy. If you'll notice here at the top, there are four points. These are the power draw points."

Harry looked where he was supposed to, and saw a circle drawn there, and three zeros with slashes through them.

"I'm jumping quite a bit ahead of the Arithmancy classes at Hogwarts, but the circle is the single wand movement, or in your case what you draw in the air. The zeros are the syllables for Protego." Nicholas then drew his finger across the numbers, figures, and odd mathematics trailing from the circle. "This is the spell formula."

Harry frowned at it. "Uh, Mr. Flamel?"

He smiled. "Yes?"

"The formula... Part of its numbers are being used in the trails off the syllables. Is it supposed to run together like that?" Harry pointed, where a multiplicative answer was being used as the divisor of another equation.

"Yes. Arithmancy is multi-dimensional. The whole spell equation must balance together. Which is why you can't just say Banana instead of Protego and get the same effect." He then pointed to a section of numbers in the circle again. "This is an absorption equation. See here where it zeros out?"

Harry nodded.

"If this were a counter to a specific spell instead a general shield, the zero here would be used in a further equation to describe the spell it is countering. Here, it is an endpoint."

Harry looked at the equation that branched off, before looking back at Nicholas. "How in the world do people figure this out?"

Flamel laughed, before walking over to a bookcase and pulling a fairly thick tome out. He put it on the desk. "_The Numbers of Movements_, this details the different common wand movements and their arithmantic equivalents. Also, translating from numbers to phrases is briefly covered in there as well. Spell creation is hard."

Harry looked at the book and flipped it open to somewhere in the middle. In the middle of the page was what looked like a check mark, and then a multitude of math operations trailing away from it. Harry noticed there were a heavy number of sevens in use.

"Now, your task for the next few days is to learn the math behind the Protego. When you draw the circle, I want you to know what is happening behind it. I want you to try to understand why the syllables for Protego support the spell the way it does."

Flamel closed the book and reshelved it. "You won't need that yet, just this." He motioned to the mathematical nightmare on the desk. "Practicals on the use of the Protego won't truly start until after you've understood it. You can ask me for any help you want, but you have to be able to explain why you've got your question, understood?"

Harry looked at the paper, and then back to Nicholas slowly. "Yes sir, Mr. Flamel." He looked at the paper again. "I'm going to need a lot of scratch paper."

Flamel chuckled. "It's all in the desk, along with ever-inking quills." A wave of his wand and a comfortable looking overstuffed chair appeared. Nicholas grabbed another book from the shelves and sat down in it and began to read.

Harry sat down at the desk chair and found the parchment. Pulling the large scroll over to him, he began to work through the numbers, copying parts over to work the math himself.

* * *

A few hours later, Harry looked up. "Mr. Flamel?"

Nicholas looked up from his own book. "Question?"

Harry nodded, picking up the parchment he was currently working on and bringing it over to the man. "This is about halfway down the wand motion, right after the point you said was the absorption calculation. There's seven different spots here where it just multiples by three. So far, the math tries to stay in single or double digits, only moving into triple digits once and not staying that high for long. But from this point, it purposely keeps the numbers at least this large."

Flamel nodded, smiling. "Both seven and three are magically powerful numbers. Without getting into the specifics of spell creation, the seven times is invoking the size of the shield. Seven times the size of the circle you are drawing. The three is the number of syllables that will be used to invoke the spell. When it starts crossing over into the syllable words, you'll see the threes divided back out."

Harry nodded slowly. "That makes sense, I guess."

Shiva had long sense given up her form, but was still trying to pay some attention. _Not to me. It just keeps working with the numbers for no particular reason. It only reached zero at one point, and that was the absorption part. Everywhere else, it seems to almost randomly throw another number into it to keep the math going._

_Sorry about that then. I can do the math, but you're right I have no idea why the math has to go out this long._ Harry responded back to her.

"Alright, keep going. You're doing well. We'll have lunch in a couple of hours." Nicholas returned to his book as Harry returned to his math.

* * *

Three days later, and three nights of dreaming of numbers, Harry found Nicholas sitting at his own desk again.

"So, quiz. Do you know why the numbers are used in that particular way when you draw the circle?" Nicholas drew the circle in the air with his wand.

"The circle is the shape of the shield. You told me that part of the math behind it is the sizing of the shield when it is cast. Another part says what the circle is supposed to do, absorb general magic. I'm not certain what the rest of the math is for." Harry answered.

Nicholas shuffled through the parchment Harry had been using as scratch paper for his math work. "And the syllables for Protego?"

Harry was much more hesitant on that. "Make something easier? I think the math would have actually been a lot weirder if it didn't branch into the syllable section. Strange as that is."

"Very good. I hadn't actually expected you to pick that up. The more points a spell has to draw on, the more you can do with it. In the Protego, it's used to add additional stability." Harry listened to the explanation with rapt attention. "The absorption portion of the spell becomes unbalanced when it blocks another spell. Eventually, the unbalance changes the equation to the point that the spell no longer holds. Then it falls."

"So you can break any spell down into math?" Harry frowned. That seemed entirely too easy. "Wouldn't it be possible for a Muggle to use magic?"

Nicholas shook his head. "No, because our internal magic is the catalyst for the spell. Without that, it doesn't matter how well you understand the theory, the practical will never work. Now, what we will be doing for the next few weeks at least will be redesigning the Protego for you and your personal casting style."

Nicholas was about to continue before he looked over Harry's shoulder. "Something wrong, love?"

Harry turned in his seat to see Pernelle standing in the doorframe, an irritated look on her face. "Yes, husband. There was a backlash in blood last night and our home is now out of sync."

"I see." Nicholas had a sad look on his face as he considered her words. "What do you need me to do to help fix it?"

Her face cleared up and Pernelle smiled, crooking her finger at him. Nicholas laughed and stood up, walking over to her. He leaned down and kissed her and Harry looked away as the kiss went on for a minute.

When Nicholas pulled back, Pernelle was smiling at him as well. Harry looked back at them as he heard Nicholas stepping away.

Pernelle was wiping her lip and Harry saw a drop of blood on her thumb. She then looked at Harry. "You're not getting a kiss, since the backlash was reaching out to you." She turned back to Nicholas, reaching up to touch his cheek. "Take your little troublemaker into town while the house readjusts."

Harry felt oddly disappointed over her comment, and got a mental laugh from Shiva for it as well.

* * *

"Since we have at least a few free hours before Pernelle will let us back in, is there anything in particular you need?" Nicholas asked Harry as they stood outside the gated fence leading back to the Flamel home.

"I was hoping to get a broom for Quidditch, actually." Harry answered him.

"A broom, hmm? The local shop wouldn't have any Quidditch quality brooms. Carré Magique it will be, since I don't feel like going across the Channel." Nicholas smiled. "Ever been to Paris?"

Harry shook his head.

"You're about to." Nicholas dropped his hand on Harry's shoulder and once more Harry felt like he was crushed and then drawn into a tiny straw.

A crack heralded their leaving the Flamel home.

A second crack announcing their reappearance at the destination of Nicholas' choice. Harry managed to keep his feet and balance this time, and peered about. Unlike Diagon, this place was much more open, with stalls set up in random locations and facing any direction but where they might be supposed to.

There were buildings, but they were spaced far enough apart from the stalls that it gave the area a feeling of freedom that had Harry grinning.

"Now, you'll need your funds before we go to any of the shops. So we'll stop at Gringotts of Paris." Nicholas took the lead, walking through the crowds with Harry following close behind.

Nicholas led Harry to a small building that didn't look like much of anything, with a sign on the wall to the left of the door. Harry frowned as it was in French and he couldn't read it.

Walking in behind Nicholas, Harry was surprised that all that the room held was a staircase going down. Following the alchemist down the stairs, Harry was surprised when it opened up to an almost cavernous room. From the stairs Harry could see dozens of other staircases that descended into the ground as goblin tellers worked beside each one.

Harry let himself be led over to the closest goblin who wasn't dealing with someone. "Mr. Potter here would like to make an intrabank withdrawal."

The goblin looked up sharply at that, staring at Harry. Thankfully, he responded in the English that Nicholas had spoken in. "Vault location?"

"London." Nicholas answered.

Thin lips pulled back in a parody of a grin as the goblin looked at Harry. "You are willing to pay the fees involved?"

Nicholas shook his head. "Mr. Potter will be paying the standard fees I pay."

"Of course. Everyone pays the same..." Harry grinned as the goblin turned to take a better look at who he was talking to. "You. He cannot ruin our gold the way you can, so why should we?"

There was a genial smile on Nicholas' face. "I think you need to have your ears checked. I cannot believe London would not have passed word along. Mr. Harry Potter needs to withdraw from his London account."

The goblin's head quickly snapped back to Harry who looked confused now. But the goblin wasn't staring at Harry's face or scar which he assumed, but his arm... "Oh for Merlin's sake." _The armlet? That's what they're worried about?_

_A vast fortune, if you will recall from the other goblin. _Shiva reminded him.

The goblin now looked surly. "How much, and give me your key."

Harry pulled his key from his pocket, handing it over. "How much is a good broom, Mr. Flamel?" He asked.

"He'll need fifty Galleons loose, and a note for eight hundred." Nicholas told the goblin.

The goblin took the key and pressed it against his ledger book. Numbers filled the page under the key and the goblin wrote a single line underneath it. Pulling a bag from underneath its desk the goblin sat it in front of Harry. The goblin then pulled a single note from a leaflet and signed it.

"Fifty galleons, loose. A goblin backed note for eight hundred galleons. Three sickles for the bag, and eight galleons six sickles for the transfer." The now unpleasant goblin sneered at the two. "Anything else?"

"No." Nicholas shook his head.

The goblin offered Harry his key back. Harry took it with a "Thank you." The goblin gave Harry an unrecognizable look, before throwing another ugly one at Flamel.

Harry collected his other things and then followed Nicholas back out of the bank.

"Goblins respect very few things." Nicholas said once they were outside. "The ability to make money, the ability to spend it wisely, and the ability to wage war. They respect me because if I so chose, I could wage war on their money. Your armlet has enough value to do the same, so you can garner a bit of that respect yourself."

"I'd never sell it though." Harry mentioned.

"And they're probably aware of that. However, the fact that it exists is enough of a threat that it's easier to just give you preferential treatment occasionally." Nicholas explained. "However, we're here for a broom for you."

He then looked at Harry. "And some more clothing. You need more than just your Hogwarts robes and those rags. No wonder Pernelle was irritated with me. I apologize for not having made time for this earlier."

Harry looked down. "They were clean and easy enough to get into." He pulled at the large amount of cloth under his robe. "Though getting out of these would be really nice."

* * *

Harry returned back to the Flamel home with enough clothing that he might have new clothing every day for the rest of the summer, and a first run Nimbus 2001 broom. Both had him grinning like a loon.

At the edge of the property, Nicholas took a long look at the house before taking the shrunken clothing from Harry. "Go enjoy your broom, it appears Pernelle hasn't settled the house yet."

Harry nodded as Nicholas walked towards it himself. "Didn't she kick us both out, Mr. Flamel?"

"It's my home as well as my wife's, Mr. Potter. It's still resetting for guests, not myself." He looked at Harry. "Don't get more than a quarter mile from the house, and don't get entirely too high. Broom wards weren't high on the list of things to have up around here, so you might be spotted."

Nicholas watched for a moment as Harry quickly mounted the broom and rose into the air whooping. He then turned to go into the house himself, a grin on his own face.

Harry didn't notice though as he pulled the broom up into the air, before pushing hard and rocketing forward. The broom was crazy fast, much better than the school brooms he was using.

Angling into a dive back towards the Flamel home, Harry grinned as he pulled back up at the last second, letting his feet skim the grass. He then evened out with the ground, hovering. "Diving's fun. Was only going at half speed too, I think."

Shiva appeared, sitting on the end of the broom. Harry pulled his hands back as she was sitting on them and she laughed. _"You are a very reckless flier."_

"I don't think so. I don't feel out of control at all when I'm flying." Harry disagreed. "The slightest twitch makes the broom move the way I want it to."

"_If you know no fear, then you may learn it too late. But if you are that assured of your ability then I will enjoy your flight."_ Shiva stepped off the broom and Harry watched as she stood in midair. _"Remember, at the moment my form is just magic. It does not need to bend to the rules of the world. Fly, I will follow."_

Harry nodded to Shiva and pulled the broom back into the air. Whooping with laughter, he pushed it forward and rocketed away at the broom's maximum speed. Harry even heard Shiva's mental laugh as well as she speed forward with him.

* * *

Harry had thought that he would immediately be put into more math the next day. He thought he would be helping, or mostly watching to learn, as they redesigned the Protego to be more suitable for his casting style.

Not that Harry though a drawing a single circle to create a shield was hard, but still.

But instead, Nicholas had dropped _The Numbers of Movements_ into his lap and told him to go through the book and look at the wand movements. Find a movement he thought he could easily do in less than a second after touching his armlet to draw magic.

"Casting a shield would be useless if it took forever to cast it. It doesn't matter how powerful." He'd been told.

Thankfully, the book had fairly detailed instructions on what each wand movement general use was. The very first movement in the book was the jab, used to thrust power in the forward direction. That was fairly simple.

However, there were roughly two hundred different possible wand movements in the book. Most of them had fallen out of style for the simple fact that simpler movements had been created that did ninety nine percent of the work the more elaborate ones did.

Harry knew he was supposed to be looking for something simple to do, but he wouldn't be happy with the first thing that fell to hand. This was going to be a spell just for him.

After three weeks of reading, writing, and practicing with the different movements, while liberally abusing the Haste command, Harry finally approached Nicholas, with Shiva visible to the both of them as she listened.

The man had taken to occasionally disappearing into other parts of the house that Harry hadn't been invited into by either of the Flamels, so Harry had no idea what he was up to. However, this morning he'd caught him before he disappeared to parts unknown.

"Mr. Flamel? You can chain wand movements together, right?" Harry asked after breakfast.

Nicholas nodded. "Yes, but that's defeating the purpose of a quick spell to shield you with."

Harry held a long piece of parchment up to him. "What if I chained them together into basically one movement?"

Nicholas took the parchment and looked it over. "Jab, five spokes, and then the circle? Explain your choices, and then explain how you expect to use all seven of these in under a second, when any number of spokes takes at least a second on its own."

Harry nodded and grinned. He'd expected to be questioned on that. "The jab is to provide power and strengthen the shield. It's a very fast movement that can have a lot of power behind it. Spokes are used to anchor wards or other defensive spells, and the circle is from the original Protego to define the shape."

Nicholas nodded. "That makes sense for use. That would likely be a very powerful shield. Now, speed."

Harry held up his hand. "I have five fingers, one for each spoke. So I pull magic and jab forward." Harry held his fingers together, the tips all touching. "At the end of the jab push out for each spoke." Here he split his fingers out. "The only thing I'm not certain of is the circle."

Harry twisted his forearm around a quarter turn. "If I consider each finger part of the circle, if they connect with where the next finger in line started, does that complete the circle?"

Nicholas whistled. "That's a very interesting concept. It'd work, but the numbers would be absolute hell to balance. And you have to understand the math behind it completely to be able to cast something like this. It will be a magically expensive spell and you will have to know what you're doing at every step of the way. This will be nothing like the Protego, where you can just understand the concept of what you're doing, and power your way through."

"Is it possible?" Harry looked eager at the explanation. "I'm willing to put as much time as I have to into learning it."

Shiva scoffed. _"Math and numbers. I will admit these shields are interesting, but Command magic bypasses them completely. There is nothing to block in them."_

"I've never seen Fawkes or Iris cast any magic themselves. You are saying your magic is superior to what we use?" Nicholas looked at Shiva in interest.

"_Different. Superior in some respects. But almost all of it would be considered combat magic. There is very little utility is commanding destructive magics."_

Nicholas looked intrigued. Harry despaired. "Shield spell?" Harry asked. "I can show you the Command magic, Mr. Flamel."

Now Harry had his full attention. "You can use her magic?" He questioned.

Harry shook his head. "No, it's not Shiva's magic, it's mine. She taught me it, but I'm not using her affinity or anything."

"Alright, outside. You show it to me, and then we'll work on your shield spell." Nicholas nearly herded Harry out.

Harry was somewhat surprised that Pernelle followed as well.

"So, if you were to classify the magic, what would you call it?" Nicholas asked Harry.

"The damaging stuff is elemental, mostly." Harry answered him.

Nicholas looked to his wife, motioning to one of the trees on the edge of the lawn. "Do you mind, love?"

She looked at the tree and shook her head. "Go ahead."

"See what you can do to that tree then." Nicholas said, staring at the tree intently.

Harry looked at the two Flamels, then at Shiva who nodded. Harry faced the tree and shifted his mindset. "Fire." He Commanded.

Flames seemed to appear from nowhere, crackling and burning the bark before fading away without leaving any additional flames.

"Blizzard." Harry Commanded next. Ice formed on the bark as the sap froze, the tree giving a mighty crack as it started splitting.

"Nice. Not overly powerful though, I would have thought you would do more damage, the way you both were speaking of it." Nicholas commented.

"_Use an -aga, Harry. Your magic is strong enough for that now."_ Shiva said at that.

"Mr. Flamel, could you cast a shield?" Harry asked.

Nicholas looked at Harry. "I thought your magic bypassed shields?"

"Something to stop the tree from hitting us." Harry explained, looking at the tree carefully, noting the damage already done to it.

Nicholas nodded and a shimmering silver energy rose between them and the tree.

Thankfully, he hadn't been casting anything today but the first two spells. And they had come down to a tiny amount of his magic.

A roaring amount of magic flooded from the gem inside him as Harry spoke, Commanding. "Boltaga!" There was nearly nothing left of his magic after that word, and Harry slumped slightly where he stood.

The lightning bolt that cracked from the clear sky was one that could have come from the heart of the worst storm in history, if one had been at the origin point of that bolt in the clouds. Before anyone could even blink, the thunderclap roared over them.

The old tree didn't stand a chance. The already frozen sap superheated and nearly atomized in a fraction of a second. The escaping gas shattered through the weakened wood, giving propulsion to the wood pieces, sending small fragments whipping through the air where they hit against the shield and fell.

When the air cleared of wood chips, a blackened stump and a few leaves were all that was left of the tree.

The silver energy fell afterwards and Nicholas looked at Shiva as Pernelle helped Harry to sit down on the porch. "-aga? A higher level of the magic?"

"_A third level, yes. Now, you had promised to help Harry with this shield spell."_

* * *

Nicholas made Harry do all the math and work on his spell, though he explained each and every part that Harry was writing down.

The first movement wasn't hard. The jab drew the power and directed it forward. All the math in there was building the power.

The second part, which they started on the week of Harry's birthday, was much more difficult. The power from the jab was mathematically split into five even components. What really confused Harry as the days went on was the fact that Nicholas had him inserting the absorption equation into different spokes in each of the spokes.

That made the math much harder, because the equations had to be the same at the end of each spoke.

* * *

"Happy Birthday, Harry." Pernelle offered Harry a smile the morning of the thirty first.

"Thank you." Harry smiled back at her, then looked at the expansive breakfast she had prepared. "Thank you very much."

"Birthdays only come once a year." Nicholas said. "It'd be too sad if they happened more often than that. I'm old enough as it is."

Pernelle laughed as she served the breakfast.

Halfway through the breakfast, however, both adults looked up at the ceiling. "What the hell?" Nicholas questioned. "Did something just bounce off the wards?"

Pernelle, however, had a furious look on her face. Harry shrunk back a bit as she began cursing in a language he didn't recognize, much less know.

She got up from the table and calmly walked into the kitchen, before coming out with a large carving knife.

"Pernelle..." Nicholas began.

"I'm going to find whatever tried to enter our home uninvited, husband. And then I will use their blood to recast that ward. That was a nonhuman ward that broke." She tested the edge of the blade against her skin, drawing a little of her own blood.

Harry watched very quietly from his seat as she flicked the blood in the air, calling out in that unknown language again. It seemed to hover there for a moment before disappearing.

Nicholas just nodded to her and she left the room. He then looked at Harry. "If it was something truly dangerous, we would have both left immediately. Dependent on what it is, she's likely to just scare them."

Harry stared at the door she'd left through. "I'm going to assume that the book I read that said blood magic was Dark was wrong?"

"Not completely, no. But blood magic is my wife's first magic." Nicholas smiled fondly, apparently thinking. "It is only Dark if used improperly. Cortez learned that the hard way." He then shook his head, returning to the current timeframe. "So, as I haven't had a young person here for their birthday in well over a century, what would you like?"

Harry blinked and considered. "I guess finishing the spell today is out of the question."

"I could possibly finish it for you, but then you would not understand it and likely be unable to cast it." Nicholas corrected.

"Figures. How about just a day off from it then? I'd like to go flying some more." Harry asked.

Nicholas nodded. "Now that sounds like a plan. It is unfortunate that there aren't many other magical children in the area, or I'd try to introduce you to them."

After another few minutes, Pernelle walked back in, the blade in her hand clean. "There's an insane house elf out there, husband. Insists on protecting 'Great Wizard Harry Potter.'" Pernelle giggled at that, looking at Harry. "Quite frankly, I think you need more protecting from the house elf than anything. It's mind has quite well went round the bend."

"What did you do with it then, love?" Nicholas had a look of interest.

"Banished it back to its master, if it had one. I don't want the blood of insanity spilling on the grounds." She replied. Pernelle then looked at Harry. "So, did you open your present?"

"Present?" Harry questioned.

"Yes present." Pernelle looked over the room. "Oh bother. Iris, you were supposed to already have came by." She complained to the air.

A burst of flame appeared and Iris soared over the table, a box in her talons. She dropped it in Harry's lap and it landed solidly. Iris then landed on a nearby perch, watching. The trilling song, while uplifting, held just as much mischievousness as her summoner did.

Harry unwrapped and opened the box, looking inside. Inside was a book. _A Guide to the Seat of Life._ The author was Pernelle Flamel.

Shiva sounded serious in Harry's mind. _The Seat of Life is Phoenix's place of power, like the Throne of Ice is mine._

"There are only three copies of that book. The other two are here." Pernelle told him. "I do not know if you will ever choose to summon a phoenix of your own, but what is known as Ayer's Rock is a very interesting place, regardless."

"Thank you, very much." Harry grinned.

"Yes, yes. Just because I have never had a clue what to give someone as a gift." Nicholas grumbled.

A few owls flew in over the course of the day with birthday wishes for Harry from several of his yearmates in Ravenclaw.

* * *

Another week went by, and Harry was successfully proclaimed to have built the spokes movements of the spell. Tying in the circle motion would be the last part he'd have to do, as Nicholas promised to do the easy part of tying the motions back up to the spell name.

But that was out of Harry's mind at the moment as he looked at the paper in his hand. On the outside was the Hogwarts crest. On the inside was the list of required materials for second year.

"Seven books, for Defense? That's insane. I hope it's a misprint and that's all seven years worth of books. I hope this guy is great at Defense, considering he's written all the books."

"Seven Defense books, by the same author?" Nicholas looked at Harry. "Dare I ask who the author is?"

Harry looked at the list again. "Uh, Gilderoy Lockhart?"

"That's not just scrapping the bottom of the barrel, that's not even having a barrel to scrape. I've got the set around here somewhere, it's trash. You still have a few galleons on you, right?" Harry nodded to Nicholas' question. "We'll get the rest of your stuff ordered for you. Now, back to your spell."

* * *

On the twentieth of August, Harry finally finished his massive portion of the spell, something that had taken almost the entire summer. But he could say he understood each and every portion of what the spell would do, where each absorption happened in the spell. Even if he didn't know why they went in that particular place, he had balanced every equation, including a five part split and reconnect on the circle which had caused even Nicholas Flamel a headache three days ago.

"Now, what do you want the spell phrase to be?" Nicholas asked. "I can do that part without you having to worry."

Harry grinned. He'd had this thought on his mind since they started. "Banana?" He asked innocently and Nicholas did a doubletake. Harry laughed. "No, can it still be Protego?"

Nicholas nodded. "Yes, actually. Since the last part is the circle, same as the Protego, it shouldn't be too difficult to break it to those syllables again. Go fly for a while, this won't take me too long." Nicholas cracked his fingers. "If I can make wormwood and asphodel wake someone up, this will be easy."

Harry nodded, and then did a doubletake of his own. "You can make the Draught of Living Death wake someone up?"

"Alchemy. It's a higher order of this." Nicholas waved a hand over the work they'd done. "Except instead of numbers, it's varying attributes of everything."

Harry nodded slowly. "Alright."

* * *

That evening, the two irritated Pernelle by missing dinner as Nicholas explained the changes required to put a word to the spell.

"So, I can try it now?" Harry asked.

Nicholas nodded, pulling his own wand. "Yes. I'll be ready to bounce it if something goes wrong."

Harry winced at the reminder of what might happen if the spell wasn't done right.

He practiced the motion several times, and Nicholas laughed. "You realize you look like you're throwing something?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, it's kinda funny. I'm casting a shield but you think I'm throwing something at you."

Shiva appeared next to Harry. _"If you do not mind, I would like to view this as well."_

Nicholas nodded. "Be my guest." Harry nodded his agreement as well.

The twelve year old took a breath before placing his fingers on the armlet, feeling the thrum of magic there. Concentrating, he drew magic into his fingers while focusing on the spell he was going to cast. Mr. Flamel had said if he had internalized the requirements of the spell, his body would know how much to supply to the spell for a normal casting.

Therefore, Harry was a little worried when a full quarter of his magic drained onto his fingertips. But he had to give it a try. "Protego!" Harry pulled his hand away and jabbed at Nicholas, spinning his fingers into the spokes and then twisting, all in the same motion.

The magic built, split, and spun. A nearly opaque gold energy formed in front of him, and Harry could see the actual spokes in the shield.

"Harry, are you alright?" Harry heard the man say from the other side of the shield. "I can't see you through it."

Shiva laughed and shook her head. _"That shield could block an entire hall in your school, Harry."_

And indeed it could. Six feet in height, and nearly that in width, the five visible spokes each touched a corner and the ground.

"I'm going to try to break it down now, Harry." Nicholas called from the other side of it. "Be prepared to move out of the way if something comes through."

Harry then heard the master Alchemist began calling out spell after spell. The normal Protego fell in ten seconds. This particular shield didn't buckle at that point.

Thirty seconds in, Nicholas' voice stopped. "I'm stepping up a bit. Careful now."

Leg Lockers, Full Body Binds, and Stunners hit the shield. It took another full minute at that level for the shield to finally buckle and Harry let it go.

"Very nice." Nicholas complimented him. "A minute and a half of low to moderate powered spells. Do you want to try it one more time, let me see how many major curses it can take?"

"_Do you think that to be a little dangerous?"_ Shiva asked.

"Better to know now what the spell's limit is, instead of finding out the hard way if he is attacked." Flamel said calmly, watching Harry.

Harry nodded and cast it again. "Protego!" The nigh solid magical energy appeared between the two again.

"Stand to one side. I'm going to hit it until it actually falls this time." Nicholas said.

Standing to the side, Harry held his hand out, keeping it centered with the shield to keep it in place. He then heard the Blasting Curse and saw the shield shake as each one hit. After the sixth one, Harry was stunned to see only a portion of the shield fall, one of the spokes breaking. The other four moved of their own accord and spread out to cover the empty spot, the shield becoming more translucent.

"Just as I thought. It is partially self healing. Wards built that way usually can't be brought down until there are three spokes remaining."

Nicholas blasted the shield twice more with a spell in another language, each one breaking another spoke until the shield fell apart. "Very, very good."

"Now, you've got eleven days of freedom before I bring you back to King's Cross for your second year." Nicholas said. Harry raced outside to go flying once more.

* * *

So, read and review. Tell me what you think. Yes, Harry only managed a single new spell over the summer. But you can imagine how useful something like that would be.


	19. Starting Second Year

A/N: There were too many loose ends to end the story in the chapter, it just wouldn't feel like the end of a book. So, here we are continuing.

* * *

There was a crack of Apparation as Harry was Side-Alonged back to King's Cross, directly onto Platform Nine and three Quarters again.

Harry barely mis-stepped this time, not losing his balance at all. He grinned at all the people already on the platform before turning to Nicholas. "Thank you very much for having me over this summer, Mr. Flamel."

"It was an interesting experience. Pernelle and I may have to have you back. And I think I'm going to try talking Fawkes or Iris into showing me some of your Command magic." Nicholas patted Harry's shoulder, stepping back.

"I hope you manage it." Harry let him know. "You'd probably pick it up a lot faster than I am."

"Possibly, or possibly not. A lot of my ability comes from having more time to practice than the rest of the world has." Nicholas shrugged. "Regardless, I need to be off. If you're going to get into trouble, at least have something interesting to show for it." He offered a last word of advice.

Harry grinned at that. "Yes sir."

Nicholas disappeared with another crack, leaving Harry standing by himself on the platform.

_Busier than expected, considering you were brought here an hour before the train leaves._ Shiva mentioned.

Harry looked about the platform, nodding to himself and Shiva. There were at least a hundred students wandering about, with a fair number of adults as well. The Hogwarts Express was already there, and Harry could see people entering and exiting it at will.

_I guess this is what it's like, if you're not here within minutes of the train leaving._ Harry returned the thought.

With time to spare before he had to board the train, Harry meandered the platform to get a better look around.

The platform extended further away from the entrance back to the mundane portion of King's Cross. Walking down it, Harry was surprised to find several small shops, the first of them being a small bookstore. The sign hanging above it pronounced it a branch of Flourish and Blotts and in smaller lettering below that was 'Last minute school books.'

It was much smaller than the Diagon Alley store Harry noticed as he stepped in. There was only a few shelves for books, and the shopkeeper desk.

Harry grinned as he saw someone arguing with the shopkeeper. The girl had fairly long black hair pulled tight and was wearing Hogwarts robes.

"They're deficient!" The girl, who Harry belated realized was Padma. "They're supposed to be defense textbooks. I've been through three of them, and no where in them is there any description of wand movements or what to do in case the book subjects were to actually attack. They're novels!"

The man was just shaking his head. "We don't do returns. They're listed as the required Defense Against the Dark Arts textbooks, so you need 'em. So sorry." His voice held an air of contempt that proved he really wasn't.

Harry watched as Padma stomped her foot and spun around. "I hate your store." She said, and then caught view of Harry. She rolled her eyes back towards the shopkeeper.

He grinned back at her. "I don't think I need anything from here either."

The shopkeeper looked up and frowned, then his eyes widened as Harry saw his eyes go upwards a bit. "Uh, wait! I think..."

Padma just dumped the books off of the table into the satchel under her arm. "No, you don't." She then walked out of the store and Harry turned to follow her.

"But!" The man called as both left.

Once outside the shop, Padma slowed her furious walk and Harry caught up. "The Lockhart books?" He asked.

"By all the gods, yes. Mother was furious that she had to purchase copies of each for my sister and I. I started reading them, only to find that any spells in there aren't actually described or anything. Parvati seems to be enthralled with the writer though." Padma sniffed.

"I was warned off the books, so I only read one and didn't actually buy any of them." Harry shrugged. "You were right though. It does read like a novel."

"You think it'll be a self study year again?" Padma asked as they walked through the wizarding section of the train station.

Harry sighed, nodding. "From what the older years say, it's that way almost every year, remember? I don't know if I want to put my luck to saying we'll have a good year."

The girl sighed herself. "I'm going to do a poll of the seventh years when we get to the dorms. I want to know how many years of good teachers they usually get for Defense. Then I'll hope that we get them for OWLS and NEWTS years."

"That'd be luckier than I'll ever be. I'll guess one good teacher our fourth year." Harry predicted as the reached the train once more.

Padma nodded.

"Harry." Draco was standing near one of the train entrances and had spotted the two, and now was walking towards them.

"See my luck?" Harry told Padma. "Seeing that I'm not dead from my focus, Draco?" He called to the blond.

Draco winced and both Ravenclaws were puzzled at that.

"Actually, Potter..." Draco paused for a moment, before taking a deep breath. "Harry, I would like to extend my apologies for my behavior the past school year. It was unbecoming of myself."

"Did someone hit you with A Confundus?" Padma stared at the boy.

Draco's face took a slight pink tinge as he almost visibly bit his tongue. "No," he looked at Padma, "Padma, I'm not under the effects of any spells. It was made aware to me how crass I was being last year. I am simply trying to fix that."

Harry looked at Draco. "You do realize a single apology isn't going to cover an entire school year's worth of crap, right?"

"I had assumed that once I apologized, we could start fresh?" Draco looked almost confused.

"You're following someone else's instructions, aren't you?" Padma asked. Draco didn't answer.

Harry took that as admission enough. "Alright, look. I accept your apology." Draco's face lit up, but Harry then continued on. "If you don't act like a complete arse, that is. If you act like you did last year to anyone, I'm going to assume you're not actually sorry."

Draco scowled, before his face relaxed and he blew out his breath. "Agreed." He then held out his hand. "Friends then?"

Harry looked at him and shook his head no, though he did grasp Draco's hand. "No, but we'll call it even and work from there."

"When you accept an apology, you should accept the hand in friendship afterwards." Draco said as he dropped Harry's hand and got onto the train. "But we'll work on that."

Harry stared after him.

_Padma is right, he was definitely pushed into apologizing by someone else._ Shiva spoke up to Harry.

_Yeah. I'll believe he's changed when I see it._ Harry thought back. "Or when I don't."

"Hmm?" Padma asked, looking at Harry.

"Oh, sorry. Thinking out loud. I'll believe he's changed when I see it or, or more likely when I don't." Harry explained.

Padma looked at the train. "Yeah. My question is why was he forced to try to apologize?"

Harry shrugged. "Don't know. Let's grab a compartment, we've only got twenty minutes."

The two boarded the train as well.

* * *

"Mind if we join you?" Harry asked, sticking his head into the compartment where Hermione and Terry were already sitting.

"I'm not stopping you, Harry. Come on." Terry waved them in. "How was your summer?"

"Pretty good, actually." Padma said, before her face lit up. "Oh, that reminds me Harry. I found this for you back home." Reaching into her satchel once more, she pulled out a roll of parchment. "I copied this out of one of my father's research books."

She offered it to Harry who took it. Unrolling it, his eyes went wide as he read.

"You were looking for a Throne of Ice last year, right? That's something like it." Padma said.

"What's it say?" Hermione asked, curious.

Harry read aloud from the scroll. "A unique magical location buried deep in the Himalayas is a palace carved completely from ice. Its origins are a mystery, as all local history and myths portray this palace as never having been inhabited. This is very true, for the closer a visitor gets to this enchanted area, the colder it becomes.

Spells of fire and heat only do so much for the average wizard, and the frozen bodies of those who have tried Apparating further into the palace stand as frozen examples of what not to do. Every flame short of Fiendfyre has been attempted to keep people warm enough to find what lies in this palace, but none last."

There was a profound silence in Harry's mind, before Shiva whispered. _The Throne sits in the center of the palace. Without someone on the Throne, it must be protecting itself._

And then Harry actually heard a gleeful shout from the voice in his head, even as Hermione looked at Harry. "So, what's the big deal over that, anyways?"

"It's... complicated." Harry answered her, thinking on Shiva. _Do you want me to tell them about you?_

Shiva's gleeful chortling ended at that question as she considered as well. _Your friend Padma deserves to know, for finding the Throne for us. As for the others._ Shiva's mental voice paused, before she continued, appearing to Harry's eyes. "_Go ahead. It cannot hurt you."_

Harry nodded. "Alright, Potter's Folly." Harry lifted his robe sleeve to show it off fully. "Mithril, right?"

Several nods.

"There's more to it than that. Remember the gem in it?" Harry pointed to it.

Hermione made the obvious comment. "Yes. But there was only one last year..."

"That's another story, and not mine to tell. Anyways, the gem is actually something that lets me talk to a spirit named Shiva." Harry explained. "I'm looking for the Throne of Ice for her, she was connected to it, and lost the connection a really, really long time ago."

"A spirit, as in a ghost?" Terry asked, looking a touch worried, before he was overrode by Padma.

"Shiva?" Her voice was pitched higher than normal. "Shiva? The God Shiva?" She leveled a heavy look at Harry. "Don't lie about my religion, Harry."

"She's not a ghost, and I don't think it's the same Shiva as in your religion, Padma. Though, the fact that her Throne is apparently in India, well, I don't know." Harry was saying quickly, trying to calm her down.

"Can you even prove that you are speaking to her, Harry? How do you know that you're not hearing voices, brought on by your armlet?" Padma pressured.

Harry scowled at her for that. "I can summon her, but not in here. It'd destroy the compartment."

The temperature in the compartment dropped and the students shivered. _"I can also do this."_ Shiva said, though only Harry could hear her. She put both her arms through Padma and the girl jumped. Shiva vanished for a second as the magic dissipated, before she reappeared again. Harry absently noted that he could barely even feel the miniscule amount of magic Shiva doing that cost him now.

"Oh god!" She wrapped her arms around herself, rubbing them. "I'm sorry."

The chill then leeched out of the room.

Harry hung his head. "OK, so not the way I wanted that to happen. Shiva was just proving she was here."

Hermione and Terry both had their jaws hanging.

"_You are going to have to summon me for her sake, I think."_ Shiva said, looking at the shellshocked face of Padma.

Harry sighed and nodded. "Well, this is a grand way to start the year off."

* * *

After the shock had worn off, and the initial few hundred questions from Hermione, things had gotten decidedly quiet in the compartment which left Harry pulling out the book he'd gotten from Pernelle and reading it.

Hermione had pulled out a notebook and was writing furiously, likely with more questions. Harry wasn't quite sure what to make of Terry, as he'd closed off and was buried deep into a book.

Padma kept shooting him looks before going back to looking out the window. Just like she had for the past two hours now.

It was in this situation that a polite knock came on the compartment door, before sliding open. A fair skinned, freckled girl with bright red hair looked in and opened her mouth to speak, but on seeing Harry, her face turned almost the same color as her and she squeaked, jumping back out of the train compartment.

"Wha?" Hermione looked at the still open door, her quill paused as she tried to parse what had just happened.

"Anyone know who that was?" Harry asked, blinking.

Three headshakes.

The girl peered back into the compartment again, her face still red. "You're Harry Potter, right?" She whispered.

Harry nodded. "Yeah. You are?"

"Ginny. I'm Ginny P-Weasley!" Her face, which had just started going back to its normal color, flared bright red once more. She stared at Harry for a moment before running out of the compartment. Other doors could be heard slamming as she ran off.

Terry started laughing madly. "Oh, oh. Oh god, it's just too funny."

"OK, let me in on the joke, please." Padma had finally found a way to set aside her issue, if only because of the absolute absurdity that had just happened.

Terry laughed again, pointing at Harry. "She's a fan! An over exuberant, star-struck, fan of yours Harry!"

Harry looked confused, but Hermione picked up on the laughter herself. "Oh wow, you're her personal movie star, Harry."

That triggered something in Harry, and he groaned. "Oh god."

* * *

"Firs' Years, firs' years over 'ere!" Hagrid was calling as they got off the train. But since they were no longer first years, Harry just waved at Hagrid before heading with the other towards the carriage.

He purposely ignored the squeaking he heard as the girl, Ginny, ran by. He tried to ignore the hand that ran across his back from her as well.

"Oh god." Harry said once they were in the carriage, looking at the others. "I can only pray she doesn't end up in Ravenclaw. I don't want to imagine what I'd have to go through."

The others just laughed at him, but commiserated at well.

It was quiet in the carriage for a few minutes as it creaked along the lake, up the path to Hogwarts. As the carriage passed by the gates onto the schoolgrounds proper, there was a roar.

The four looked out the window towards the sound and saw a fairly huge creature flying straight towards the carriages. Flame spewed from it as it got closer before it pulled up.

"Holy shit, is that Firewing?" Harry looked at the identified dragon, now as big as one of the carriages. "He's huge!"

"And he's still less than a year old." Terry said, eyes wide. "You were the one that talked Ravenclaw into adopting him. If one of us gets eaten, I'm holding you responsible."

"I may have been a bit over excited when I did that." Harry said, looking out at the dragon still.

"_[Hiii, everyone! Hii! How are youuu!]"_ Firewing was roaring as he flew over the carriages. _"[Anyone want to come play with me! Man-momma made me not go near the floatie things!]"_

_A playful dragon. Oh god._ Harry thought to himself.

"_[I can smell you, mister! I know you're there. You need to teach man-momma how to actually talk to me!]"_ Came another roar, as the dragon almost dive bombed the carriages, getting closer to the one Harry was riding.

Before anything could happen though, a red jet of light flew from the direction of the castle as the carriages were pulling up, smacking into Firewing's hide.

"_[Owie! Alright, I'll come back later.]"_ Firewing thankfully flew off at that.

As the carriages were unloading, Harry saw both Professors Flitwick and McGonagall standing there, wands at the ready. Both looked extremely harried.

"Alright students, into the Great Hall. I think Firewing is done playing for the moment." McGonagall called.

As the students walked in, Harry heard her grumbling. "Insane idea. Raising a dragon on the school grounds. He's going to eat everything on the school grounds, more likely."

The Great Hall was lit up just like last year's sorting, with the Hat sitting on its stool in the middle. Harry split off with his fellow Ravenclaws to their table to wait for the first years. Shiva appeared and floated above the other students, watching with interest.

Harry looked up to the teacher's table and saw the new Defense professor. A squeal came from one side, while a groan came from the other.

Harry looked at the groan first, and saw Padma shaking her head, mouthing 'why?' to the air. On the other side, Hermione was staring star struck at the professor. He poked her. "You're looking at him like that Ginny girl was at me, Hermione."

Hermione quickly blinked and quit, but looked at Harry. "That's Gilderoy Lockhart, Harry! He wrote all those Defense books. Think of all we're going to learn from him!" She whispered in glee.

"Think of all the money he just made off all of us." Roger a few seats down was glaring daggers at the man. "Those were brand new books last year. All seven of them. So do you know how many used copies there were? None. Those things were bloody expensive, I could have eaten for a week cheaper than the cost of one of those things. And to find out their author is the one that made them required..."

Hermione frowned. "But, he knows so much, he probably just wants to teach us it all as well."

"Did you read them all, Hermione?" Padma asked her.

Hermione nodded.

"Tell me then, since I only read three of them before I got disgusted. Did any of them actually have the full instructions for any of the spells he was using in his narrative?"

Hermione closed her eyes, thinking. Harry could see her mouthing words. "Photographic memory?" He asked.

She nodded, still thinking. Before she could answer, the doors opened, allowing the new first years in. Harry watched as they walked in, noting that this year's class looked to be at least a dozen students larger than his own.

As the Sorting Hat opened up and began to sing, Harry listened to it, but also watched Hermione as she attempted to recall any spell instructions from the books. Just for the fact that it was taking this long wasn't a good sign.

As each of the students was called up to be sorted, Harry clapped loudly for each of the new Ravenclaws, and politely for the others. He had to support his house. Hopefully, he could get on the Quidditch team this year. He had a few ideas for Roger about that.

The first name Harry caught was a Luna Lovegood, and that was because the girl sorted to Ravenclaw sat down right across from him and looked up, staring at Shiva. "How do you do?" She asked.

Shiva started, looking at the girl. _"You can see me?"_

She nodded, smiling. "You're not a Crumple-Horned Snorkack though."

"_No, I am not."_ Shiva answered slowly, before looking at Harry. _"See you later."_ Shiva vanished from sight.

Luna just tilted her head, frowning at Harry. "I didn't mean to scare her away."

Harry just shook his head. "You caught her offguard."

Padma was staring at Luna with wide eyes though. "You saw her!" She hissed at the girl.

Luna nodded jerkily. "Yes?"

"Hold on, hold on. Harry's fangirl is getting sorted." Terry interrupted them.

Harry turned back to the Sorting Hat, just as it dropped on Ginny's head. It sat there for long seconds and Harry found himself wondering what it was saying to her, because a moment later it yelled out "GRYFFINDOR!" and she pulled it off. She almost threw it down onto the stool, giving it an unidentifiable look, before stomping off to the other redheads at the table.

Said redheads were staring at her a bit oddly.

As she sat down, the headmaster stood up. "Ah, another year at Hogwarts. Before the meal begins, I would like to introduce our newest member of the staff, Professor Lockhart. He will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts."

There was loud applause, but only in sections of the room. Most of Ravenclaw were giving him looks that ranged from wary to outright disgust, while a large number of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs were applauding madly.

Slytherin, as usual, applauded for none but their own and therefore were quiet.

"Also, this year, there is no need to worry about the third floor corridor. You are all welcome to use it as you need to. Mr. Filch's list of banned products has grown once more, adding another half dozen items to it. Now, eat up!"

The feast appeared in front of everyone.

* * *

So, second year starts. The Ravenclaws actually use their minds and figure out that even if Lockhart is the best thing for Defense since sliced bread, he's still a crook with the books. Let's hope he's a better teacher, right?

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	20. Introducing Friends and Failures

A/N: By the by, a question for the other authors out there. Do the rest of you refresh the traffic stats for your stories like crazy in the first 24 hours, watching how many people hit it? Or is it just me?

* * *

Harry sat in the common room, watching as Professor Flitwick spoke with the new first years. He was fairly interested in hearing about Luna, since she could see Shiva.

"Luna Lovegood. I am a junior reporter for my father's paper, the Quibbler." Luna smiled. Harry noticed she was given a number of unfriendly looks at that.

Once everyone had introduced themselves and drawn numbers, the girl that had drawn Luna's number, a Sarah Pemberton, snorted. "Can I just tell everyone about the Quibbler now? It's a hack paper full of nothing real. Her father drifts through life on his wife's money, writing about the fluff between his ears."

"Miss Pemberton, that is enough!" Flitwick's face was red with anger as Luna's was pale and she looked about to cry. "You will apologize to Miss Lovegood."

Sarah looked at the professor and then at Luna. "Sorry." She said, without any feeling in it.

Luna just shook her head and answered, her eyes taking on a distant look as she stared past her. "I guess that's alright. It's just the fault of the Flitzworms around you. They tend to cause people to be rude without meaning." Her voice was still slightly hitched, but calmed quickly.

Flitwick gave Luna a steady look before shaking his head. "Alright, rooms. Come my new Ravens." He motioned for Luna to walk with him as they left.

Harry watched as all the first years left and sighed. "What the hell?"

"As much as she could have put it a lot better, that's more or less true." Penelope said to him. Harry looked over to her with a question on his face. "The Lovegoods are strange, and the Quibbler does report on really weird and bizarre things, almost all of which don't really exist."

"That explains the paper, but that doesn't explain how Luna or her father are really strange." Harry insisted.

"You heard her. Flitzworms? Those don't exist. I've read a couple articles from that paper for fun, everything is like that. My mother says her father has been like that for years as well." Penelope insisted.

"I know for a fact she can see something you haven't. What makes you think she doesn't see these other things as well?" Harry said, standing up and walking away from her, determined to ignore the whole situation for the moment. Behind him, Penelope was giving him an odd look.

Across the room, Harry stopped in front of Roger. "So, can I join the Quidditch team?"

Roger looked up from the book he was scribbling in. "You manage to get a broom? You'll never make it on a school broom."

Harry nodded with a smile. "I got a new Nimbus 2001 over the summer. It's really great. It handles like it's not even there and I'm actually flying."

Roger's eyes were wide. "Harry, that broom hit the market all of two months ago. You picked up a brand new, state of the art broom?"

"Yeah?" Harry asked confused. "Why wouldn't I?"

The Quidditch captain shook his head. "I would have figured you would have gotten a Nimbus 2000 at best. The 2001 early models went out to the professional leagues last year and their 2000 models were sold back at a fraction price."

"I had the money and the salesman promised it was the best. I like it." Harry answered back.

"Damn. Alright, first practice is this Saturday. You'll have to beat Sheila Fawcett for the Seeker position, she's still got it from last year."

"Alright." Harry nodded. _I pretty much had her beat on a school broom last year, especially with finding the Snitch._

_Should I hope that this year you will not have a teacher trying to kill you during the matches?_ Shiva asked, a touch of teasing in her voice.

Harry grinned to both Roger and mentally to Shiva. _I know I'll be praying for it._

Harry picked a new seat away from Penelope and pulled out his book, opening it and settling in to watch for Luna. He still wanted to find out how she was able to see Shiva.

Thirty minutes later, Luna still hadn't come out of the dorms. The other first years had returned but not her. He was just about ready to go up there and start knocking on doors when Padma came out of the dorm door and spotted him.

She walked over and sat down and Harry saw the intense gaze from her. "When?" Was all she asked.

"Uhh, this weekend?" Harry answered, knowing what her question referred to.

Padma nodded. "Alright." She calmed down a bit. "So, what are you reading, anyways?"

Harry lifted the book up. "It's about the magical aspects of Ayer's Rock in Australia. I'm kind of waiting for Luna to come back down, but I don't think it's going to happen tonight."

Padma nodded. "Maybe she went to bed early?"

Harry didn't voice his opinion on why.

* * *

The next morning Harry was stopped by Professor Flitwick before he could leave with his schedule. "It was your idea last year to adopt Firewing. Therefore, you will be with the first years this morning when I take them by to introduce them."

Harry nodded. "Yes sir." Harry paused. "He's gotten huge. How is Hagrid handling him?"

"A Fireball's full growth is eight to ten times that size, Mr. Potter. It will be a few years before the dragon gets to that size." Flitwick gave a smile. "Though Firewing is plenty big for the moment, I think. And Hagrid is handling it like any proud parent."

As the first years began showing up for their schedules, Harry saw Luna walk into the room with a somewhat wide-eyed stare at everyone. She seemed to actually drift over to the professor.

Flitwick offered her the paper with her schedule on it, but stopped her from actually leaving. "Not yet, Miss Lovegood. All the first years have somewhere to be this morning."

Luna's gaze settled on Flitwick for a moment, before flitting off once more. She fingered the necklace of radishes she wore.

Harry sighed. "Hey Luna, can I talk to you afterwards?"

Luna peered at Harry. "I don't see any Flitzworms on you." She smiled slightly, even as Sarah from the night before scoffed again.

Harry looked at the other girl. "She does see things that other people don't." He told her and received his own incredulous look from the girl. "I have no idea if any one of them is true, but since I know at least one is, why not the others?"

Luna blinked several times at Harry's words and stared at him for a moment. "Thank you."

"And how do you know?" Sarah demanded, looking put out. "My mother says none of those things exist that the Quibbler prattles on about."

Harry leveled his own glare at the girl, only a year younger than him. "Because I can see this one too."

Flitwick sighed and brought his hand between the two. "Now, now. No arguments without facts to back them up please. Miss Pemberton, the lack of evidence is not direct proof of there being no such thing. Else Muggles would be right about magic."

* * *

The small rock mound that had been behind Hagrid's hut was no more. Instead, there was a shallow depression that was at least a hundred feet across that extended between the hut and the Forbidden Forest.

It was to the edge of this depression that Flitwick led the first years and the few curious older Ravenclaws.

For all that the ground around the depression was the dark dirt of the Hogwarts grounds, the depression was a craggy stone that was broken and shattered, leaving small odd craters and mounds of stone.

To the curious eyes of the first years, Flitwick smiled. No one was familiar enough with the Charms master to note the slight strain in it. "As of last year, our Groundskeeper received a license to raise a hatchling Chinese Fireball. Ravenclaw adopted the dragon Firewing. Now, you're all going to help take care of him."

Flitwick looked among them. "No one is to visit in groups smaller than three, however, until your fourth year."

There was movement from the depression, and a pile of stone was knocked over as the dragon rose up from where it had been laying hidden, it's wing knocking over the rock. With an almost yawning roar, the Fireball's head swung around and caught sight of Flitwick, Harry, and the others.

There were a number of gasps from the young students, as they considered how they were supposed to help take care of something already three times their size. As the dragon seemed to almost grin and flapped his wings, taking off and lazily floating towards the group, Flitwick continued, but with his wand in hand.

"Mainly it will just be visiting with Firewing while Hagrid is here, to familiarize him with humans. Anything else is done by those in the Care of Magical Creatures classes."

Firewing landed in front of the students, showing teeth as he looked over them, finally spotting Harry. He then gave a roar at him. _"[Hiii! I didn't eat the small people!]"_

Harry grinned at Firewing, but said nothing considering the looks he was getting from Flitwick and the few older students.

Firewing then walked up to Harry and head-butted him, knocking him to the ground. Flitwick raised his wand, red energy ready to fly if it was an attack, but Firewing just sat down as well, a curious mewling growl issuing from the dragon at Harry. _"[Did I do good? I understand man-momma better now, and he says I do.]"_

Harry just sat in the dirt and grinned at Firewing then at Flitwick. Carefully watching his words, Harry spoke to Flitwick. "I think he likes me." He laughed.

"_[Come on, talk to meee! Pleeeasse!]"_ Firewing's voice to Harry was petulant and begging, though the growl that the others heard wasn't friendly.

"Mr. Potter?" Flitwick asked cautiously as Firewing's head swung back and forth.

"You should really answer him." Luna said in a distracted voice, as she stared at one of the radishes on her necklace.

Several of the other first years shook their heads at Luna's antics while Harry answered the professor. "I'm fine, Professor." He watched Firewing cautiously.

Firewing bumped his head into Harry's chest again, letting out a low, rumbling hiss. _"[Don't be a meanie.]"_ The dragon then backed off as Flitwick stepped up ready to cast. _"[I wasn't being bad!]"_ came a startled roar before he turned and took off, flying towards the Forbidden Forest.

"And that was Firewing. He actually gets overly friendly like that a lot." Flitwick smiled. "Are you alright, Mr. Potter?"

Harry nodded and stood up, looking to where Firewing had flown off to. He felt bad for not talking to Firewing, but didn't want to let that secret out. Looking around, Harry noticed that several of the students had already wandered off.

"Luna!" Harry called after the blond as she walked away and he quickly caught up with her. "Can I talk with you for a bit?"

The wide-eyed girl looked at Harry. "Oh?"

"Yeah. I was hoping to find out how you could see Shiva." Harry answered her.

"I don't see her right-" Luna began saying, before blinking at Shiva appearing next to Harry. "Oh, hullo."

"_Hello, young lady. Luna, correct?"_

A bright smile crossed Luna's face as her head bobbed up and down. "Yes. Have you ever seen a Crumple-Horned Snorkack?"

"_I am afraid I have never heard of them before. Could you describe one for me?"_ Shiva smiled at the girl.

Harry just continued walking with the two, ignoring the odd looks the two of them were getting from the students walking back towards the castle as well. Harry directed their walk towards the lake.

"A Crumple-Horned Snorkack is a very short, two legged creature. It is commonly white or light blue with pink wings and has a horn that looks like a thin thread with a big ball on the top. The horn can be crumpled and it just springs back." Luna said, even as she was being redirected from the school.

"_Ah, no. I have not seen one of them either. My apologies." _Shiva replied after a moment of thought.

Luna nodded. "That's alright. Just like the Nargles can't see Heliopaths."

"So, how can you see all these creatures anyways, Luna?" Harry interrupted before the blond girl could continue her questioning of Shiva.

Luna stopped at the edge of the lake and tilted her head to one side, her cork earrings dangling as she thought. "Just shy of forever. Daddy introduced me to them a long time ago."

Luna's face became sober. "Momma tried to see them too. Now she's gone."

Shiva reached out an ethereal hand and laid it on Luna's shoulder. _"Passed beyond?"_

Luna nodded quietly.

"At least your dad's still around." Harry added uncertainly. "Right?"

Luna nodded again, before looking up. Harry noticed her eyes were a touch wider than before and she wore an absent smile once more. "If I find a Crumple Horned Snorkack, will you help me catch it?"

"Uh, sure." Harry nodded at the change of subject.

"_Luna._" The girl looked at Shiva. _"You are lucky to have known your mother and to still have your father, no matter that she is gone now."_ Shiva motioned to Harry. _"He has neither parent, remember."_

"Oh yeah. I'm sorry Harry." Luna smiled a little more genuinely now at Harry, even though it held a touch of sadness.

"It could be worse, I could have had to spend last summer with my relatives again." Harry offered.

Luna looked at Harry. "They can't be evil step-parents though. My great-great-uncle Grimm wrote about those kind of relatives."

Harry just gave her an odd look back, before nodding slowly.

* * *

Harry sat in the Ravenclaw/Slytherin combined Defense Against the Dark Arts class, looking around with no little amount of shame for his sex. The Defense room had been altered from last year, and not in a good way.

Whereas last year even the evil teacher had set the classroom up to at least give the appearance of teaching his subject with demonstration dolls that never got used and wand diagrams that were never referenced, now the walls were covered in posters and paintings of Professor Lockhart.

Sadly, the Slytherin girls apparently hadn't heard the discussion the Ravenclaws had had at the opening feast because they were cooing over the different poses the moving pictures were taking to impress everyone.

Most of the Ravens were withholding judgment, hoping the pictures might serve a purpose.

On the teacher's desk was a fairly large box or something like that, covered in cloth. It buzzed occasionally, leading Harry to wonder if there were somehow bees inside it.

After a few moments of sitting in the class, Professor Lockhart actually _pranced_ into the room, wand waving in the air and releasing a small sheen of silver color. He blessed the room with a wide smile before speaking. "Ah, how wondrous it is to see all your bright smiling faces, ready to learn. Now, I hope everyone has read their books thoroughly, for I was hoping to start the class off with a quiz to see."

_Great, don't tell me there was actually something of value in those books? I may end up borrowing them to read now._ Harry groused in his mind, remembering Mr. Flamel had said they weren't worth the time to read.

As the professor passed out the parchment, Harry caught a knowing smirk from Hermione, who had already read the books thoroughly, apparently.

Harry just sighed and looked down at the test, absently putting his name at the top.

"_What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?"_

_What the hell? What does that matter in Defense?_ Harry questioned in his mind, before skipping the question. And the next, and the third one. And then Harry quickly skimmed the entire quiz, noting they were all about the Professor.

Harry was about to raise his hand when Padma beat him to it. Lockhart smiled at her. "Yes, my dear?"

"Exactly what point does knowing your favorite color or dream have to do with learning Defense?" Padma's voice was calm but curious.

"Why, everything my dear. To know all the secrets that I will be imparting upon you, my students, you must learn to think as I do!" Lockhart smiled once more, and Harry almost groaned at it.

Padma gave the Professor a frank stare, before turning her quiz over. Harry followed suit.

Hermione shot the two of them looks of incredulity, as she quickly finished her own. "I knew there was a reason for it!" She hissed to them.

Harry rolled his eyes.

A few minutes later the quizzes were collected and Lockhart shuffled through them, tapping each with his wand. "Miss Patil, Mr. Potter? You didn't finish your quizzes."

Padma just stared at him.

"I was hoping to see what we'd be learning before I read them, Professor Lockhart. I was told that those books weren't worth buying." Harry answered honestly.

Now Harry had the attention of Lockhart and the class. "Who told you that your required textbooks weren't worth purchasing, Mr. Potter?" Lockhart asked.

Now Harry was in a dilemma, as he wasn't sure if Mr. Flamel wanted people to know that Harry had stayed with them over the summer. But then Harry realized how public it had been when he was picked up and then dropped back off.

Shrugging, Harry answered. "Mr. Flamel."

Tittering and gasps were heard from most of the students who knew who that was. Lockhart didn't look amused. "Mr. Potter, I have a hard time believing that you are in contact with Mr. Flamel. You shouldn't try to use your fame to slander others, my boy. How about I take five points from Ravenclaw and you give me the real answer?"

Harry felt affronted. "I'm telling the truth. I spent this summer at Mr. Flamel's home in France."

"Five more points, Mr. Potter." Lockhart shook his head. "Your fame is going to your head, my boy."

"As much as I loathe agreeing with anyone outside of Slytherin, Professor, I saw Mr. Flamel pick Harry up at King's Cross after the school year ended last year." Draco spoke up from his seat.

"_Interesting. Speaking up for you? He is at least attempting to keep his word."_ Shiva sounded as surprised as Harry felt.

_He could have done it before I lost points though._

"How very interesting." Professor Lockhart had a gleam in his eye at someone corroborating Harry's story. "I must hear about that, Mr. Potter, you must have had a very interesting summer. But later, for now I will see how well you all fare against some of the worst creatures you may ever face as a second year student."

Lockhart put his hand on the buzzing, cloth covered box on his desk. "Freshly caught Cornish Pixies!"

* * *

"So his books do have a point!" Hermione was grinning ear to ear as they left the classroom forty five minutes later, the disaster of the pixies being let loose behind them.

"So, in what way did you think like Professor Lockhart, Hermione?" Padma asked dryly. "Because three of us managed to pull different stunners to drop those pixies, including yourself. After the Professor was drug around by them. Which of his books did you think back to, to remember Arresto Momentum?"

Hermione sighed, her shoulders drooping. "None of them. But look at everything he's done, there's got to be loads we can learn from him."

"I think I'm going to go find one of those DADA study guides Penelope was talking about last year." Harry commented.

* * *

So, second year has started, and Lockhart fails to make a good impression on a number of students. God knows what he's going to do to his poor students before the end of the year.

Read and review!


	21. Beginning Corrective Actions

"_[Free to rend...]"_ The words floated down the hallway, causing Harry to come to a standstill as he cocked his head, listening.

Considering the corridor Harry had been hurrying along was in the first level of the dungeon, it was fairly odd, since it sounded somewhat like Firewing. "Firewing?" Harry called out into the air, before shaking his head. There was no way they'd let the Fireball into the school, much less into the dungeons.

Continuing his walk to the Potions classroom, Harry almost missed it as more words floated nearby. _"[...Free to devour.]"_

Harry stopped once more and looked up and down the hall. Not even a suit of armor nearby. _I don't think I'm just imagining it. Shiva, do you hear it?_

_Whatever you are hearing, I am not._ Shiva responded back, before appearing next to him. "_You hear the dragon child?"_

Harry shook his head, looking around once more. "No, it sounds kinda like him, but I don't think Firewing would ever be talking about being free to rend and devour."

"_No, not from what I have seen. Do you hear anything else?"_ Shiva looked down the hallway curiously as well, but couldn't see any more than Harry did.

Harry was quiet for a minute. "No, not anymore. I know I'm not hearing things though." He insisted.

"_I did not say you were. But you might wish to get to class quickly now, do not give the Potions professor a reason to give you grief again."_

Harry shook his head. "Yeah. I'm enjoying the 'barely tolerable Ravenclaw' that I'm at right now."

* * *

"Mr. Potter." Professor Snape's oily voice called out as class began. "I've heard that you are building your celebrity status making claims of where you were this past summer."

Harry looked at the professor, before looking around the room to the combined Ravenclaw/Slytherin class. A number of Slytherins were quietly smirking at him, and the Ravenclaws looked put upon.

"I'm not making claims, sir. I spent the summer at Mr. Flamel's at his request." Harry answered him. _Well, time to kiss my barely tolerated status goodbye again._

"Then you won't mind telling me the first principle of Alchemy then?" Snape's eyes pinned Harry.

"I don't know it, Professor." Harry answered. In response, Harry felt a roaring wave of cold go through his mind as Professor Snape seemed to almost fall backwards a step.

_Something was in your mind again, violently._ Shiva's voice was as cold as Harry's head felt, and Harry touched his temple, shaking his head for a moment. _I shattered it completely in response._

_I felt you hit it. Headache to end all headaches._ Harry thought back, somewhat disjointedly.

"Potter." Snape called again, his eyes narrowed. "Twenty points from Ravenclaw for impertinence. I would think that even an utter dunderhead like yourself would be able to memorize a single principle in a three month period."

"Sir?" Harry questioned.

"And ten more points for backtalk." Snape shook his own head and then turned over the chalkboard. Instructions were on it for a potion. "Get to work, all of you."

Harry watched as the Potions professor sat down at his own desk and proceeded to ignore the class, holding his own temples in pain.

_He was in my head then?_ Harry realized. _What the hell was he doing?_

_Looking for something, but he did not care what he harmed to find what he was looking for._ Shiva answered, her own voice quiet. _That took quite a lot of power to do, nothing like when it happened last year._

Harry stood and went to the potions cabinet, trying to think through why that had just happened. Collecting the ingredients on automatic, Harry went back over to the table, dropping next to Hermione and slumping.

Hermione took them, but looked at Harry with concern. "What's the matter?" She asked quietly, even as she started cutting.

Harry looked at her. "I think Professor Snape attacked me."

"Verbally, yes. He never cuts you a break, Harry." Hermione nodded, dropping the first few cuttings into the cauldron, stirring in a triangle pattern.

Harry shook his head. "More than that. Something in my head. Shiva shattered it, and look." He motioned to where Snape was still holding his own temples, not paying the class any attention.

"Shiva? The spirit?" Hermione whispered back. "Harry, even if I am giving you the benefit of the doubt about her until this weekend, why would a teacher attack you?"

"Hopefully not for the same reasons I got attacked by a teacher last year."

"Potter, Granger. Ten points each for talking. There is no requirement for that for this assignment." Snape's voice called out.

Harry looked up and saw the Potions professor scowling in his direction. Sighing, Harry bent back to the potion. _I need to talk to Professor Flitwick._

* * *

"Fifty points. We lost fifty points in a single class!" Hermione seemed fairly distraught as they left the classroom.

The other Ravenclaws didn't say anything, but Harry had the feeling they were thinking the same thing.

"I'm going to go talk to Professor Flitwick. We've got a few hours before the next class. Hopefully he can reverse some of them, or do something." Harry said and walked off, leaving his yearmates behind.

Unfortunately, there was a Fifth year class still in Charms, so Harry was stuck waiting outside the classroom for almost thirty minutes before the Gryffindor/Slytherin class emptied out. Harry was given a number of curious looks from both the Gryffindors and Slytherins, but nothing was said to him.

Harry was thankful for that, considering he didn't want to mention Professor Snape's point taking in front of the Slytherins, who would likely be happy over it.

"Professor Flitwick, can I talk to you?" Harry asked, stepping inside as the last of the fifth years left.

The short Charms professor turned. "Oh, Mr. Potter. Certainly. How can I be of assistance?"

"Is it right for Professor Snape to take a total of fifty points from Ravenclaw in one class?" Harry asked. "He said I was only claiming that I'd been at Mr. Flamel's home this summer, then asked me a question about alchemy. When I couldn't answer, he took twenty points for impertinence. And then he took ten more for backtalk, when I tried to get clarification. And then ten each from Hermione and I for talking, even though several of the Slytherins were talking as well."

Flitwick looked disturbed.

"Not to mention Shiva destroyed an attack in my mind from him."

"That is a very serious allegation, Mr. Potter." Flitwick interrupted. "Elaborate on that for me."

Harry did, explaining what Shiva had sensed and done. "Since Professor Snape was acting like he'd been hit when she did it, it had to be him that did it."

Flitwick nodded. "Forty-five points to Ravenclaw. At worst, you should have lost five points total for the talking when you shouldn't have. I won't go into whether or not the others were talking, as that is just your word I would have to take."

Harry nodded, glad to at least get the vast majority of the points back. "Do I need to speak with the Headmaster about the attack?"

"I'll do so, Mr. Potter. You've brought it to your Head of House, so let me deal with the Headmaster over it. Now, I think you've got a class soon?" Harry nodded to the question. "Go ahead then."

As Harry left, he heard Flitwick muttering as he quickly cleaned the classroom. "Legilimency on a student. I'll have his head."

* * *

Harry felt better about the whole situation after hearing that.

Harry didn't hear anything of it for the next couple of days, but Saturday morning had him caring about other things.

The Quidditch Pitch was bare with the exception of the eight Ravenclaws.

Roger set the others to work practicing bludger dodging while he worked with Harry and Sheila over the Seeker position.

"Alright, Sheila you know the drill but Harry doesn't." Roger looked at Harry as Sheila flew over to the center of the pitch. "Harry, there are three sets of Seeker drills. Whoever does the best in them gets the position. The first is catching."

Here, Roger held up a small bag. "Expansion charms means I've got almost two hundred golf balls in here. I'm going to be banishing them around the pitch and you and Sheila have to catch them. The balls themselves are charmed to turn green if they hit the grass. They'll turn blue if Sheila gets them before they land and bronze if you do."

Harry nodded. "One at a time?"

"Where would the fun be in that? No, I'll be Banishing up to ten at a time in all directions. No going over the goals in height and no checking the other seeker." Roger was grinning. "You don't have to hold onto them once you've caught 'em. Now, get out there with Sheila."

Harry nodded and mounted his broom, zipping over to the current Seeker.

"Nice." Sheila motioned to his broom. She was riding a Nimbus 2000 herself. "But don't expect that just because you're riding a faster broom you'll immediately do better."

Harry shook his head. "You saw me on the school brooms last year. I'm good enough to play."

"True. May the best Seeker win then, Harry." Sheila held her hand out and Harry shook it. "Look alive, Roger's up top." She pointed up.

Roger had gotten almost four hundred feet into the air and was just a speck against the clear blue sky.

Harry saw movement from Roger and then Sheila rocketed away on her broom. "Good luck, Harry!" She yelled.

Harry was still for a moment, watching Roger's tiny movements, before he pushed his own broom forward, rocketing across the pitch and rising into the air as his eyes caught the tiny movement of a falling ball. "Haste." Harry whispered, focusing on himself. The magic couldn't affect the broom's speed, but speeding up his own reflexes and perception of time was easily done with the Command spell.

Harry's world narrowed down to three things. His broom, Roger, and the golf balls that were slowing, beginning to rain down over the pitch.

He didn't notice when Shiva materialized behind him, flying along at the same breakneck speeds he was going, her laughter inaudible as he tuned it out even in his mind.

Sheila didn't matter. For all that he knew, the girl on the broom was just another obstacle for weaving and darting around if they were possibly going after the same ball. He missed the look of utter astonishment on her face when she pulled up from their combined dive, not wanting to wreck into the ground. Harry continued on and pulled the golf ball out of the air as his fingers skimmed grass, the broom vibrating as he angled it away with the twigs catching a bit of grass on their own.

The golf ball was bronze, not green. Dropping it, Harry looked up at Roger to watch for the next set.

The little balls flying away from Roger created interesting streaks in the air as Harry's senses fully attuned to the Haste magic flowing through him at the moment. The broom was fast enough that it still moved so quickly under him that the feeling of movement didn't change.

The moving obstacle was already going for one of the golf balls, but there were several others moving in another direction. Harry sacrificed one to the obstacle, again buzzing through the air, tagging the other falling objects, noting with satisfaction the bronze coloring they were taking.

After several long moments with no more golf balls falling, Harry calmed down and felt the Haste magic leave him sitting on his broom, a sheen of sweat on his forehead.

"Harry, you ok?" Harry grinned at the question from one of the Beaters. Apparently, their practice had ended while Roger was testing him and Sheila.

"Yeah, fine." Harry answered, looking over to Sheila who had a frown on her face. Roger was flying back down to the grass.

"Alright, let's see how the two of you did." Roger pointed his wand at the grass, holding the bag open. "Accio green balls!" From the grass, a couple dozen golf balls lifted off the ground and flew into the bag. Roger raised an eyebrow. "Only twenty-seven green? Wow, the two of you were seriously moving then."

"Alright Sheila, we'll do your count now. Accio blue balls!" Roger waved his wand once more as laughter broke out from the others. Sheila glared them into submission a moment later as a larger number rose from the grass and flew into Roger's bag. "Fifty-five?"

Roger looked at Sheila, shaking his bag. "That's not as many as you usually give me." He had a grin on his face, before kissing the air at her.

Sheila gave him an evil eye back. "Oh, don't worry. You've just earned plenty of them now."

Roger winced as his teasing of his girlfriend backfired. "Alright, anyways. Moving on." Roger looked at the bag and then did a double take at Harry as he did the mental math. "That leaves a hundred and eighteen of them for you, Harry? What the hell?" He waved his wand one last time. "Accio bronze balls!" And the rest of the golf balls on the field lifted and flew into the bag. "Merlin, that's insane."

"That's what I was saying watching him." The beater, James Bradley, spoke up. "You should have seen some of his power dives and reversals."

"_It was quite a show"._ Shiva said, watching from Harry's broom. _"You may have been under the Haste spell, but your own skills at this game are superb. You are a born flier."_

Roger looked at Sheila, who nodded back to him. "I know he'll beat me in Snitches." She said.

"You going to give it to him then?" Roger looked at her.

Sheila shook her head. "Oh no, I want to see how well he does off the new broom." She grinned at Harry. "Snitches is usually last, and I'm going to concede that to you now, so you're on the team and I'll be the backup Seeker."

"What is Snitches?" Harry interrupted.

"I've got five Snitches sealed in a box. We release all five of them at once, and whoever finds and catches the most wins." Roger explained. "Sheila is pretty damn good at it, and I'm not just saying that to try to get back in her good graces." He sent a smile her way.

"You were finding the Snitch before I was last year in the actual games. It was irritating then, but I can't say you would be any worse this year." She allowed. "But I'm still going to beat you in tag."

One of the chasers showed back up, two of the school brooms in tow. Both were old Cleansweep Sevens. Harry took one while Sheila took the other.

"Alright, here's how it goes." Roger was grinning at the both of them. "One of you is going to play Snitch, the other Seeker. Sheila, you mind playing Snitch first?" The girl shook her head. "Alright, Harry that means you have to catch her. All you have to do is tap her and she's considered caught. Then you'll switch."

Sheila mounted her broom and took off as Roger held his hand up. "Let her get across the field. Then go after her."

Harry nodded.

Given two brooms of equal speed, in an open area, a straight out chase would last forever. Even here in the Quidditch pitch where the distance Sheila could run was limited, cutting across her field of movement was too slow.

Harry eked out every mote of speed he could from the broom, nearly laying across it and praying his smaller weight would help in catching her, knowing that the Haste command wouldn't help in this situation. Bit by bit, minute by minute he closed in on the current Seeker. As he reached out to grab her shoulder, Sheila threw a grin to him before slowing enough for him to do so.

"Not bad. Not great, but it wasn't bad." She allowed. "Now, you run. It took you almost five minutes to catch me. I'll do it in two or less."

Harry raised an eyebrow before darting off over the grass on the broom, again making himself small against the broom. As he got across the pitch he looked back, noting Sheila was chasing him, but was also rising higher into the air above him. _Aw, crap. Why didn't I think of that? Brooms and flying. Three dimensions, Harry!_

He knew what she was intending. A dive on him to tag him. If he rose higher on the broom as well, she was still higher and the dive would add to her speed while rising would slow him. So Harry stayed at the ground level, streaking across the pitch in a zigzag.

Throwing her another look, Harry saw her smile and dive at him. He'd let her get to close and the dive was giving her too much speed. As she dropped onto his position, Harry grimaced and turned the broom ninety degrees and as the broom came to a shuddering halt, Harry let his leg go lose from the broom and pushed against the ground, and snapped off to the right.

"Dammit!" Sheila yelled, her arm outstretched. But Harry felt her hand barely brush against him and he stopped. As she floated over towards him, she was shaking her head. "I'll give you points for still managing to nearly dodge when I was diving you." She grinned at him.

Harry grinned back and stepped off the broom, wincing as he put weight on his foot. "I don't think I got stopped all the way though."

Roger was clapping. "Sheila won that one, but damned if you didn't give her more of a fit than I thought you would. Welcome to the team."

Harry grinned before looking at Sheila. "You're not mad at me for taking your spot, right?"

She shook her head. "Trust me, we need the best. I'm getting tired of the Slytherins having the trophy."

Harry smiled. "Actually, Roger, I've got an idea on that. Do you think we could talk with the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff Captains?"

Roger nodded slowly. "What's the idea?"

"I'm going to prove the house points system is set up wrong, even if it means breaking the system first. And possibly prove teacher bias as well." Harry said.

Harry had his new teammates' attention.

* * *

Harry had nearly been ambushed by Padma the moment he walked back into the castle. The fire in her eyes worried him slightly.

"Harry! It's the weekend!" She grabbed his arm. "Now?"

"_I cannot blame her for her haste."_ Shiva gave Harry a quiet smile. _"I do not mind now."_

Harry nodded to her. "We need to find Hermione, Luna, and Terry though. Luna can see her as she is now, and Hermione and Terry know about her as well."

"I'll grab Luna. Hermione and Terry are in the library I think. Meet back here, alright?" Padma said to Harry before almost dashing off towards Ravenclaw's tower.

_Wow._

Hermione and Terry were found in the library as Padma said, and it only took mentioning Shiva to get their attention and presence. Padma was already back at the Great Hall doors with Luna by the time Harry got there.

"Are we going Snorkack hunting?" Luna asked as they showed up.

Harry shook his head as they walked out of the school. "No, I'm going to summon Shiva."

Luna pointed to the ethereal Shiva. "But she's right there. Why summon someone who is already here? I think summoning a Snorkack would be a much better thing to do."

Shiva laughed. _"Physically, Luna. To where your companions may see me as well."_

Padma, Hermione, and Terry were all giving Luna odd looks as she started dancing around, grinning and cackling.

"Harry, if I find a Snorkack or a Moon Frog, do you think you could summon them solid? It'd make a great scoop for the Quibbler!" Luna's wide eyes were shining at Harry in hope.

Harry blinked at her. "Uh, no promises but I will if I can?"

"Yay!" Luna hugged Harry, to the laughter of the others. And then proceeded to start wandering off.

"Hey, don't you want to see Harry summon, Luna?" Terry called after her, causing the distracted first year to stop.

"Huh?" Luna turned back. "Oh, yes. I guess it won't hurt my hunt too much to let a Snorkack get a bit more of a head start."

Harry laughed with the others, and Luna smiled back seeing that they were not being mean and laughing at her. He then led them past Hagrid's hut, along the treeline of the Forbidden Forest. Firewing's little home was empty, so apparently he was off flying around.

Once back to the same place Harry had summoned Shiva the year before, right along the fence line for the school, Harry looked at his friends.

"Alright, first thing. It's not parseltongue." Harry stated.

He got back a look of confusion from Hermione, ones of apprehension from Padma and Terry, and a nod from Luna.

"What do you mean, Parseltongue?" Hermione asked him curiously.

Padma answered. "It's the ability to speak to snakes. It's a very Dark trait."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I don't see how talking to snakes is dark, but Voldemort could do it." Harry's eyes continued rolling at the flinches from the others.

"Anyways, it's not parseltongue. It's the Dragon's Voice. Shiva said it was, and I've proven that I can talk to and understand Firewing."

"I knew that Firewing was too insistent with you, Harry." Luna gave him a smile. "Although I don't understand what he was saying, it was obvious he was. And expected you to talk to him as well. That wasn't very nice of you."

Harry started, but then nodded. "It works on snakes as well, and I really didn't want everyone to hear it. I'd really rather not get people talking about me."

"Anymore than they already do, you mean?" Padma asked. Harry sighed and nodded. "So, does that mean you're going to be speaking in this Dragon's Voice to summon Shiva?"

"Yeah. You guys ready?"

Terry, Hermione, and Padma somehow had quill and parchment appear in their hands. "Go ahead." They chorused. Luna just nodded.

Harry laughed, before calming. This was important, at least to him. He was introducing Shiva to his friends. And letting the knowledge of her out to someone that wasn't a teacher.

Harry touched his heart, placing his hand over where he felt his own gem of magic resided. The gem flared and whitened as he drew magic from it directly, for something that wasn't wizarding magic, and wasn't Command magic. This was Summoning, summoning an aspect of power.

As Harry released the magic into Shiva's Materia, his eyes slit once more, glowing faintly green with their own inner light.

"_[Shiva, of Ice and Snow.]" _Padma and Terry flinched, even knowing ahead of time what was going to happen as Harry's voice was only a hiss with the occasional low growling roar. _"[I offer you magic to build a body and call you forth not for battle, but for my friends. Appear before us, please.]"_

The ethereal Shiva smiled at Harry as the words were spoken, and at their culmination she vanished. As the air turned bitterly cold for a moment, all of Harry's friends were shocked as ice crystals at least as large as a person appeared from thin air, driving forward to lance into the ground.

The crystals built up into a mound of interlocking ice as tall as Hagrid. Eyes went wide as someone appeared reflected in each flat plane, before the ice shattered into a hundred thousand shards and the woman stepped forward with a smile on her face.

Harry actually looked puzzled for a moment, as Shiva was wearing what kind of looked like wizard robes, but were a deep blue and much more flowing than any robes he'd seen.

"You look different than before." Luna was more blunt than Harry's curiosity.

"Indeed. When I am normally summoned, it is for battle, and I do not expend effort or magic to build clothing more than what is required to not cause issue with my summoner. Harry specifically claimed it was not for battle, so I expended the magic required to build this." Shiva motioned to her dress. "The words of the summoning ring differently to me than normal speech, so I use them as a guide for manifesting."

Three quills were writing at breakneck speed.

"I did not realize you wanted me to give them a lecture on magic, Harry." Shiva gave a teasing look to Harry.

"I didn't. I wanted to introduce them to you. But you can't blame them, it's something brand new." Harry laughed as Padma and Terry reluctantly set aside their own parchment. Hermione resisted for a moment longer before she too put her quill to the side.

"Hermione, Terry, Padma, Luna. This is Shiva." Shiva gave a shallow bow at Harry's words. "Through the Throne of Ice, she is the Empress of Ice and Snow."

Harry thought it was hilarious the way Padma and Terry's hands were twitching towards the quills again. Hermione instead was giving everything her rapt attention. Perhaps an eidetic memory, not just photographic?

"Can I be the princess of ice and snow?" Luna asked innocently. "Due to the only Ravenclaw, Sarah, not acting much like a princess even if that is her name, and isn't the moon supposed to be cold?"

Shiva gave a delighted laugh. "Your father would be distraught if I adopted you away from him, would he not?"

Luna pouted for a moment as the other Ravenclaws, Harry included, were trying to pick their jaws up off the ground. "Oh, alright. I bet it would be easier to find a Snorkack or a Moon Frog though."

Shiva smiled and seemed to flow down onto the ground. "Sit please, all of you. I would rather not stand all day if you do not want to."

Luna and Harry both sat, though the other three more or less fell to their butts.

"Can I ask a question, ma'am?" Hermione asked, and Shiva looked to her. "You were the one to give Harry the information he gave me about mithril last year, right?"

"Yes, I was. Did you find it useful?"

Hermione paused. "Well, not useful, since I don't have any mithril. But it was really interesting. It looked like a more flexible version of warding from what I cross referenced it with."

"Well, mithril was never my strong suite, more Diablos, but..." Shiva paused and a puzzled look came over her face. She looked around and then at Hogwarts. "Is it just me, or does the magic of the school feel different to any of you than last year?"

They all looked back at the school. "I don't really feel any magic, but I don't think anything's different." Harry shook his head and the others agreed.

"Faintly different, and only because you summoned me directly in the school last year am I noticing anything. It seems almost... familiar?" The puzzled look on Shiva's face grew stronger. "But it is so weak a difference I cannot put my finger on it."

"Fawkes?" Harry offered.

Shiva nodded. "Perhaps that is it, since you now carry his Materia as well." She turned back to the group. "Now, you all know something about me, perhaps you will tell me about yourselves?"

* * *

No specific comments this time, but read and review please.


	22. Corrective Backfires

A/N: Do you guys realize that I had almost as many hits last month on this as my second most hit story (Clay Pinions) has had in its entire existence? You all rock. 87k hits on this story. :D

* * *

A few weeks later, Professor Flitwick called all the Ravenclaws together. The common room had expanded quite a bit to comfortably hold them all.

Professor Flitwick had conjured a platform against one wall so that everyone could see him talking. As he stood there looking over the students, it was plainly visible that he was unhappy.

"Starting today, students, none of you will go to any detention that you have not previously spoken to me about first." Flitwick looked over the students. "I do not care who gives it to you, even if it is the Headmaster himself. I do not care when it is. I will be making myself available for two hours every night here in the common room. You will not go to a detention without my knowledge and approval."

There were a few whispers as everyone looked at each other. Flitwick held his hand up and the hush filled the room again.

"Additionally, any time you have points taken from you, I want a written record of when, where, why, and by whom. I do not care if it is the Head Boy, myself, or the Headmaster that takes them. I will be reviewing every point taken from you daily, and correcting them if I must."

Flitwick's face showed shock and a bit of sadness at the muted cheer he received from the older students.

"Does anyone have any questions?" Professor Flitwick asked.

"Can I give you the points list for today now, Professor?" One of the students called. There was a general murmur of agreement.

Flitwick nodded from the platform, stepping off of it. A wave of his wand and the platform vanished. Moving over to one of the chairs, Flitwick sat in it. "Line up then, earliest to latest year."

Harry was happy that he didn't have to get in line, as today hadn't been a Potions class day. Flitwick again looked disheartened at the line that did form, however. Forty or so people.

_If each student only lost five points, and he reverses the majority of them, there will be a major shift in the numbers in the morning, Harry._ Shiva's voice held a note of amusement.

* * *

Shiva had been right that the house points for Ravenclaw shot up, and by the next Monday it seemed like open war had been declared between the Ravenclaws and the Slytherins.

Harry felt the brunt of it for his year when in Potions.

"Potter!" Professor Snape seemed to hover over all the Ravenclaws during the Potions class, breathing down their necks as he meticulously watched them. Except when one of the Slytherins managed to throw something at their cauldrons. He was oddly unseeing at that point.

"Yes sir?" Harry was trying to stay as neutral as he could, given the circumstances.

Snape pointed into Harry's cauldron where he had just added the fluxweed that Hermione had shredded. "You incorrectly shredded that. Adding it in as you did has ruined your potion." Snape waved his wand at the cauldron causing the contents to vanish. "Ten points."

Harry nodded. "We'll have to redo the potion then."

"There's not enough time left in the class to do so, you'll both be failing today's assignment because of your gross negligence." Snape disagreed.

Harry picked up his quill and wrote down '_Ten points, potion improperly made.'_ on a sheet of parchment next to him.

"Fifteen points for working on something outside of this class as well, Potter. You must give Potions your full attention." Snape snatched the parchment, crumpling it.

Several desks away, Terry flashed him a subtle thumbs up.

"Yes sir." Harry answered him, watching the Potions professor stalk off to harass Su. _This is getting insane, and it's only been a few days._

_I think your Head of House underestimated the energy Snape puts towards maligning the other students._ Shiva responded to Harry. _Perhaps I should start watching your back for you, Harry._

Harry watched as Snape almost reduced Su to tears over her and Terry's potion, but didn't vanish that one. Though she did lose Ravenclaw another five points. Temporarily, probably.

Beside him, Hermione had a potions text open now but didn't seem to be really reading it, as she wasn't really looking at it. Harry sighed and pulled his own out as well, opening it to the potion they were supposed to have been working on today.

"Ten points to Slytherin for a passable Babbling Potion, Miss Greengrass."

* * *

As Harry walked through the school later that afternoon Cedric Diggory, the Hufflepuff Quidditch captain, fell into step with Harry, who was on his way to the Quidditch Pitch.

"I've been watching the point counters." Cedric began. Harry didn't say anything. "Ravenclaw's been looking like a yo-yo, with the way it's been bouncing. Though I've noticed the high point is getting higher."

Harry nodded, not sure where he was going with the conversation.

"Given enough time, Ravenclaw is going to outdo the other Houses regardless, if the final count is taken when Ravenclaw is up. Did you all plan that, before you brought this crazy idea to us?" Cedric asked.

Harry shook his head as they walked by a group of older Slytherin students who scowled at Harry. "No. I wanted to prove bias in the school and point out that the House points don't work if we add the Quidditch ones to it."

"I've talked to Roger about it. As a gesture of good faith and intent, Hufflepuff is going first, all the way." Cedric looked at the retreating back of the Slytherins. "They looked ready to hex you."

"They're about ready to hex everyone." Harry shook his head. "And Hufflepuff can go first. Were you looking to get me to promise I wouldn't end it early if Ravenclaw went first?"

Cedric gave Harry a rueful smile. "Kinda, yeah. Not that I don't trust you, but Seeker instincts and all. I know I'm going to have to hold back as well." His smile turned into a grin.

"Just until the game starts." Harry nodded. "Hey, I've got practice in a bit, see you later?"

Cedric nodded.

* * *

"Alright, we're going to do stamina drills this afternoon." Roger said, tossing everyone a quaffle. When Harry caught his, he almost stumbled under the weight and gave Roger a surprised look. "Twenty pounders. We're going to be running laps around the pitch."

"Actually, you won't." The Ravenclaws turned to find the Slytherin Quidditch team standing there. Marcus Flint, their captain, was the one who had spoken. "We've got the pitch booked solid for the rest of the day." He had an evil grin on his face.

"We've had today reserved for over a week, Marcus." Roger shook his head. "You're not throwing us off the pitch."

Marcus waved a folded piece of parchment. "Ah, ah. I've got a signed form from Professor Snape overriding any prior reservations." He offered it to Roger.

Snatching the paper, Roger looked it over. "Required to train new Seeker and break in brooms?" He looked up.

"Yes." Marcus held up the broom he was holding and they noticed it was a Nimbus 2001. "We've all got new brooms, and our Seeker needs some practice."

Draco stepped forward, a grin on his face. "Not much, mind you. But I've never been on a 2001 before and I know it's more broom than you all could handle."

_Alright, Draco backslid already._ Harry thought to himself. He got a mental smile from Shiva.

The Ravenclaw team was looking at Draco, then at the seven brand new brooms the Slytherins were carrying. "You bought your way onto the team?" Roger asked.

"No, you ignorant buffoon. I made the team, and then the team was supplied with brooms befitting us." Draco tried to look down on the sixth year Ravenclaw, but found it hard when he was a number of inches shorter.

_I suggest making him aware that he has broken his promise to you._ Shiva suggested.

"Hey Draco." Harry said, catching the attention of the Slytherins. "Since you're not sorry, we're not even anymore."

Draco just shook his head at Harry. "We are not even, Potter. I've decided that I don't need to play nice with you. I am more than you ever will be."

There were chuckles from the Slytherin contingent. One of Harry's teammates stepped forward, Beater's bat in hand but Harry just smiled.

Harry held up his own broom. "Both Nimbus 2001s. How about I challenge you to Snitches? Since we're both riding the same broom, we can see who is the better Seeker right now."

"You sure you're up to losing, Potter?" Draco sneered. "You've got a game this weekend, you sure you want to lose what little faith you have in your ability before then?"

"Quit posturing, Draco." Marcus said evenly. He then looked at Harry. "I don't care if you play your little game with Draco, but you all have lost the pitch for practice." He looked over to Roger. "You're not welcome here to watch our practice."

There were several grumbles from the Ravenclaws. Roger nodded, but shredded the note. "Don't think I don't know what you're doing here." He motioned to his team. "Come on."

Harry made to fall into step with his teammates when Draco spoke up. "I thought you were challenging me to Snitches, Potter? Are you chickening out?"

"No, but I'm also not dumb. I'm not going to be the only Ravenclaw out here." Harry looked back over his shoulder at Draco.

"You think we're going to do something to you, Potter?" Marcus asked.

"Fairly certain of it, yes." Harry answered.

"Fine. Play your little Snitches game before you all are out of here." Marcus scoffed. "You think we'd attack you outright? That's not the way we work, Potter."

The other Ravenclaws had stopped, but Roger had disappeared. He returned a moment later with a sealed box. "How many?"

"Three. Easy enough for Draco to beat Potter, but it won't take too long to get rid of you all." Marcus said.

Roger opened the box where several little golden balls were laying. Picking up three of them, gossamer wings extended and the Snitches flew off. "First to get two of them wins the competition then."

Draco was already on his broom and bursting off in the direction one of them had flown.

Harry focused for a moment, commanding Haste upon himself once more before mounting his own broom.

"_Do you want me to watch as well, Harry?"_ Shiva asked as she became visible to him.

_Watch the Slytherins, I'll find the snitches on my own. I just don't want to get attacked by them for other reasons._ Harry answered her back, lifting into the air.

The Nimbus 2001 model brooms were fast enough that their speed would negate any advantage Harry might have had in movement. But as Harry had realized before, his reactions to the movements of the snitch or the golf balls was superb.

There, Draco had apparently been watching one of the snitches as it left, hoping to catch it quickly to get ahead fast. But he wasn't as good a flyer as he made himself out to be, as his movements were overly large and jerky as he followed the tiny golden ball.

Harry quickly sped off after the Slytherin, cutting across the pitch and rising into the air at an angle that would cause him to quickly catch up.

Draco hadn't noticed Harry as the Slytherin was focused on the Snitch he was following. The little golden ball twisted and turned in midair and it was taking everything Draco had and more to close the distance between himself and the snitch.

Harry grinned to himself as he flew towards Draco, pushing the broom hard. The little golden ball, flitting away from Draco seemed to notice Harry as well, jerking in a new direction away from both second years as it rose into the air without pause.

Harry reacted first, broom handle pulling up as he rose with a hand outstretched, snagging the Snitch as the bristles of his broom almost brushed the top of Draco's head. "First one's mine, Draco!"

Harry then dove away a bit, his eyes peeled and looking for another Snitch.

"_It appears the others are having an argument."_ Shiva noted, floating next to him as she watched the others on the ground.

Harry looked over in their direction, noting that yes, Roger and a couple of the Slytherins seemed to be having a fairly heated discussion. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but at least no one had pulled wands. Yet.

_Let me know if they start casting at each other and I don't see it, please._ Harry thought back to her. Harry continued darting around the pitch, looking for a second Snitch.

Twenty minutes went by without spotting the snitch and the argument down on the ground was getting worse.

"_It looks like an actual fight is starting now, Harry." _Shiva said to Harry as she continued to float near him as he zipped through the air, her eyes still watching the escalating argument.

"Damn it." Harry spun on the broom, looking down at the edge of the stands. Jets of light were already starting to fly between them and Harry saw Roger cast a Protego, the golden shield flaring for a moment as it blocked several spells before falling.

"Damn it, damn it." Harry started dropping through the air towards the fight until he had to pull up suddenly as he was buzzed by Draco.

"They'll be fine, Potter. We're still competing, remember?" Last year's sneer was back on Draco's face again.

Harry shook his head. "I'm not going to let my team get hexed, Draco." Harry nudged his broom downwards once more, falling almost vertical for half the distance before pushing forward.

"Fine, then we'll both join in Potter! Petrificus Totalis!" Draco yelled from above.

Harry twisted the broom in the air, and the spell passed by him harmlessly and splashed into the ground. He turned and looked back at Draco, shaking his head before landing behind his teammates.

Several of the Ravenclaws had cast Protego shields, one on top of the other while they were fixing hexes and curses. Two of the Slytherins were down, and they showed no signs of trying to revive their own.

"Harry, you know anything decent?" Roger asked as he cast another shield, this one shimmering differently.

Harry grinned, touching his own armlet. Energy leapt from his fingers as he seemed to literally throw a shield up between the two groups. "Protego!"

Harry's own variety of shield sprung into being, locking into place larger than the other shields that were behind it.

"Merlin and Morgana, Harry!" Bradley's eyes were wide at the shield. "That a shield or a wall?"

Marcus started heavily cursing Harry's shield as the three other remaining Slytherins started moving around it. One of the lines broke and the shield became a little more transparent. "Shield." Harry answered. "Do we get out of here, or not?"

Roger picked Malfoy out of the air with a stunner and the blond Slytherin crashed his broom into the grass. "Let's go. We've already proven they'd go down if we continued fighting."

Harry nodded and let go of his shield, but was surprised when it stayed up. "_That has potential, Harry."_

Digging deeper into his magic, Harry nodded to Shiva's comment. "Protego! Protego!" Two more of his shields appeared, giving an almost thirty foot wall for them to go around. Harry wilted slightly at the expenditure.

"Damn." Roger's eyes went wide. "How many more of those can you do, Harry?"

Harry shook his head. "No more. Let's go, if we are."

The Slytherins gave them no issue as they walked quickly off the pitch through a team room. They appeared to be too stunned over Harry's shields to do much more.

* * *

Once safely back inside the Ravenclaw common room, Roger stopped Harry. "You willing to explain your shield, Harry? No matter what you're using to cast it, that isn't the normal Protego."

"I guess." Harry nodded. "It is based off the Protego, let me show you." Harry did the movements in slow motion.

"That's a ward scheme. No wonder they were staying up, it's more like a quick cast ward than a shield spell." Roger looked awed. "I can see why you used it though. Does it have any external draws like a ward would?"

Harry shook his head in the negative. "No, it's still a shield. Takes a stupid amount of power to cast it though."

"Well, yeah. If you're providing a ward with enough power on its own to stand, I would think so. Could you possibly teach it to me?" Roger asked with a grin.

"Not anytime soon, no. That's something personal."

"Ah, well, can't blame me for asking. Alright." Roger nodded. "I'm thinking you'll need some offense to go with that though, second and third year Defense spells won't do you much good against anyone. You up for lessons later?"

Harry grinned.

"Welcome Quidditch fans to the start of the new season. As usual, it's the Hufflepuff versus Ravenclaw match to start the year off!" Lee Jordan's voice called as the announcer.

"So let's get started! Madam Hooch throws the quaffle and Hufflepuff takes it, apparently uncontested by the Ravenclaws." Lee's voice yelled out.

Harry rose further into the air, Cedric alongside him and they both watched as the Hufflepuff chasers flew down towards the goalposts of Ravenclaw.

Harry grinned as he heard Lee speak up. "The chasers split up, one going behind the goalposts? Summerby takes the shot and the Ravenclaw Keeper actually moves out of the way? Ten points to Hufflepuff."

Cedric laughed quietly at the confusion in Lee's voice, before incredulity entered it quickly thereafter. "What in the world? Chaser Stebbins catches the quaffle, and throws it back through the goals again. Summerby catches... Madam Hooch, is this even legal?"

Madam Hooch was floating on her own broom, staring at the scoring going on. Several times she appeared ready to blow her whistle to pause the game but stopped.

"There's no regulation against the Keeper not actually doing his job." Harry laughed. Off to one side, all four Beaters were having fun batting the bludgers around, keeping them boxed up and away from the actual game.

"That's two hundred points to Hufflepuff so far, and it doesn't show any signs of stopping. What in Merlin's name is going on here?" Lee demanded, but didn't receive an answer.

The points continued to grow, and the crowd grew restless in the long minutes of the two Hufflepuff Chasers passing the quaffle back and forth. Finally, after a thousand points the two stopped.

"Will you look at that? Something different is finally happening." Lee called as the Quaffle was passed to the Ravenclaw Chasers. As they flew unimpeded to the Hufflepuff goals, Lee's groan was heard throughout the stadium. "Madam Hooch, can we just give them the points?" was his question as the same thing started happening at the Hufflepuff goalposts.

Madam Hooch was shaking her head in disbelief as boos started up from the Gryffindor and Slytherin sections of the stands. Harry glanced down and noticed the Gryffindors were slowly stopping though, as their Quidditch team was going through, probably explaining what was happening. The Slytherins had no one doing that for them.

"The scores are coming up to a thousand each, so hopefully something's going to change. No one looks very happy about watching this." Lee announced as the Ravenclaw score passed nine hundred.

At a thousand, Cedric nodded to Harry and dropped down.

"What's up now? The Ravenclaw chasers have passed the Quaffle to Diggory, the Hufflepuff Seeker. Diggory moves to the center of the pitch, and..." Lee's voice was bewildered as he continued. "The Chasers line up as if the game is just starting. Diggory throws the Quaffle up, and Ravenclaw takes it. And immediately has to dodge the first bludger attack in almost an hour!"

Lee was actually cheering with the crowd and no amount of recrimination from Professor McGonagall was stopping him as the game took off.

* * *

That evening found the Ravenclaw Quidditch team defending themselves to the rest of the house, even though they had won with a score of 1280 to 1100.

Professor Flitwick was there was well, and appeared to be fighting a smile of amusement as he listened.

"Seriously. This was set up before Professor Flitwick started fixing the points we lost. This was to point out that Quidditch can severely upset the point system. There were plans to do this as well with Gryffindor, to put all the houses but Slytherin on the same level."

"So you were going to purposely throw Slytherin out of the running, Mr. Davies?" Professor Flitwick spoke up, a frown on his face now. "I've been correcting points because they have been improper. Are you going to cheat your competition out of a fair game?"

"Considering the cheating and blatant rule breaking they do on the pitch, what we're doing is completely within the rules." Roger answered back. "We basically restarted when the scores were even, so no one threw the game."

Flitwick nodded. "Understandable. And I sympathize with your goals. However, I strongly suggest you think about making it about Quidditch, and not against a House." The tiny Charms professor stood up. "I'm going to retire, but you might all want to know something. The point challenges are going to get much worse, as Professors McGonagall and Sprout agree with me about the points being taken. They will be reviewing their students as well."

Flitwick left the common room.

Discussions broke out among the students about the possible ramifications.

* * *

So, we see what happens when people start standing up for themselves, and the school is slowing starting to turn into a battlefield with multiple fronts. Poor Harry. He doesn't realize what the combination of the Heads fixing their students point losses and the Quidditch points is going to do. Do you?

Read and Review.


	23. Hot Battles, Cold War

A/N: Time moves on. The first part of this is snippets of what is happening around the castle, and it isn't the only things. Feel free to escalate in your mind what is happening in the other classes.

* * *

**October 19**

"Fifty points from Ravenclaw, Miss Li, for missing the beginning of class." Professor Snape called as Su Li opened the closed door and slipped inside. She looked at the professor and nodded, not saying a word about the fact that though she was the last student in, there was still two minutes before class started.

"I would give you detention as well, but you wouldn't show." Snape scowled at this.

* * *

"Mr. Higgs." Professor McGonagall called to the Slytherin third year student. When he looked up from his transfiguration, McGonagall looked at a parchment on her desk. _Improper stirring method?_ "Ten points from Slytherin for improper wand movements."

The Slytherin boy looked flabbergasted. "But Professor McGonagall?"

"I have a list of reasons that points were taken by all the teachers. I am merely using them as a guideline for my own deductions. I have one for backtalk, shall I use that one as well?"

Terrance shook his head.

* * *

"He insists I'm biased and not looking at the points objectively."

* * *

**October 21**

"Mr. Bole, five points to Slytherin for a textbook Protego Horribilis. Very good." The little Charms professor smiled at the boy.

The seventh year student blinked nervously, as if waiting for the other shoe to drop and points to be lost.

Professor Flitwick gave and took no other points during that class.

"Thirty points to Slytherin, Mr. Pucey." Snape looked at his fourth year. "For an adequate potion."

The Slytherin boy grinned at his Gryffindor classmates who had already lost forty in the past ten minutes.

One of the Weasley twins half stood, only for Snape to spin. "Fifteen points from both of you for attempting to attack another student."

The redhead settled back in his seat, glaring at the Potions Master. _I'll give him an attack. Shouldn't be too hard to get some of the better pranks set up._

* * *

"Ah, what a wonderful day, is it not? Now, open your books to the third chapter of Gadding with Ghouls. We'll be discussing today the mischief they can get into and how I got out of it." Professor Lockhart smiled at the second year Ravenclaw/Slytherin class.

"Mr. Potter, would you like to come up here for a demonstration?" The Defense professor waved his hand.

"Must I?" Harry asked. The rest of the class looked fairly plaintive as well. Defense was about the only class all the students could agree on at the moment.

"Yes." Lockhart smiled, light seeming to ping off his teeth.

Harry stood, sighing. As he walked in front of the class, a hex flew from the Slytherin side of the room, catching Harry even as Shiva yelled out. Thankfully it was just a Tripping Jinx and Harry managed to catch himself on the floor.

_Did you catch who it was?_ Harry asked, seeing as how Professor Lockhart didn't seem to be willing to do anything.

"_Not at this angle. I think I am going to touch freeze a few of them though."_ Shiva walked over and shoved her hands through two students heads and vanished as Daphne and Crabbe both grabbed their heads from the cold. Harry felt Shiva draw on his magic a few more times as she reappeared and went through most of the Slytherins until Blaise's hands came up with one holding his wand. _"Found who."_

Harry grimaced as he stood in front of Lockhart for another idiotic demonstration.

* * *

"I'm starting to lose control of my classes."

* * *

**October 26**

"Three hundred points from Hufflepuff for disturbing the class, Mr. Diggory. Your falling asleep is causing you to snore." Snape called out, making the student in question look up in confusion, a tissue from blowing his nose in hand. "Sir?"

"A hundred more for backtalk." Snape glowered.

* * *

"Depulso!" The Banisher hit the girl in the back, throwing her down the hallway. Her friends cried out to her, two turning to see who had cast.

The two third year Hufflepuffs looked in fear at the five older looking students in green trim, who had their wands drawn. They backed away, knocking into their friend and helping the downed girl up.

"You're related to one of the Hufflepuff chasers, aren't you?" One of the boys asked, his eyes narrowed.

The girl nodded, wand shaking in her hand.

"Let me express my displeasure with your family then. Tell them that Slytherin had better get three times that many points during our match." Wands came up and the girls found themselves outnumbered and outcast, as they were quickly bound up and hit with a dozen hexes.

"Hey, what the hell!" The fifth and sixth year Slytherins turned to find a group of redheads and other Gryffindors. One of the twins had been speaking.

"Oh look, we can take care of the Gryffindor message as well."

The Gryffindors unleashed a volley of their own hexes even as the Slytherin students started throwing their own spells.

Ten minutes later, two Gryffindors stood, reversing as much as they could on their own house and the Hufflepuff girls.

Percy looked over at the Slytherins. "It's not going to make a difference by morning, but as prefect, three hundred points from Slytherin for attacking other students. Fifty from Gryffindor for the same."

Percy got a number of odd looks from his housemates, but none of the anger he expected. "McGonagall will look at the points you took as well, Percy." Was all Fred would say.

* * *

"Albus, we can't enforce discipline if we're all reversing each other's point reductions and detentions."

"Then why are you doing so?"

* * *

**October 29**

"EIGHT HUNDRED POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR! I WILL SEE YOU EXPELLED FOR THIS!" Snape bellowed, even as he batted away a stunner. The Potions lab had turned into a free for all as the fourth year Gryffindors and Slytherins had started firing on each other, potions upturned and some melting through the tables.

Fred Weasley cackled madly as he fired another hex at the Potions professor, while his brother shielded him from the attacks of the Slytherin students.

Snape seemed to snap as he batted this one away as well. "STUPEFY TOTALIS MAXIMUS!"

The relatively small potions classroom was filled with the red light of a stunner with Snape at its epicenter. When the light cleared, the only people left standing were Snape and Fred Weasley. George had gone down, shielding his brother to the end.

"So, shall we continue, Professor? If I'm going to be expelled, I might as well go down fighting." Fred's grin had gone manic.

"Mr. Weasley, you are only a fourth year. And you'll not be making it to fifth. You cannot hope to defeat me." Snape's drawl was furious.

"Ah, but I can at least make it fun! Engorgio!" Fred called back.

"Levicorpus! Protego!" Snape's first spell yanked the Weasley boy off his feet and he lost his wand, even as the shield absorbed the engorgement charm. "Just because I disdain foolish wandwaving doesn't mean I cannot defeat any student if I so choose." Snape raised his wand and a red jet of light hit the boy, as Snape wordlessly cast another Stupefy.

He then looked at all the downed students. Ennervating his Slytherins, he levitated the Gryffindors out. "I've never had an opportunity to get an entire house year expelled."

None of the Slytherins said a word as the now bald Potions Master left the room. Revenge would be had against Lee Jordan.

* * *

The wards of Hogwarts seemed to shiver as the Headmaster's voice echoed through them into the entire school. Gone was the jovial, barmy old man. Gone was the grandfatherly voice. There was an undertone of carefully suppressed anger as he spoke, "All students that are not currently under the Hospital Wing's care are to immediately report to their dorms. Any student not back in their dorms within thirty minutes will have their guardians contacted to remove them from the school for the rest of the school year, with the Board notified of possible expulsion. The wards _will notify me_ if another student casts a spell. All Professors are to report to my office immediately."

Anywhere in the school that students were, papers were immediately crammed into bags as they dashed off. Any fighting broke off suddenly as the wards rippled through, dispelling any jinxes and hexes, and the fighters quickly ran.

Even the Professors quickened their steps as they headed for the Headmaster's office.

Once there, they found Professors McGonagall and Snape standing at opposite corners of the room. If looks were capable of killing, Avadra Kedavra wouldn't be needed between those two. Not even the sight of Snape being bald could rouse a chuckle in this atmosphere.

Dumbledore himself had set aside any jocularity he may have had as each of the Professors stood there.

"Now, Severus brought an entire class of Gryffindors to my office saying they had started a major fight in his classroom, including hexing him. I have noticed a few issues between students that you all have brought up to me, but I did not think it had gotten this far."

"Albus, I have lost any ability to enforce discipline in my classroom! Any points I deduct are returned, with additional points added by their Head of House. Detentions are not gone to. They knew they faced no challenge to their recklessness, and it has escalated to this!" Snape yelled.

Dumbledore's wand waved over Snape. "No more yelling. At all, from any of you." The Headmaster looked more like the recollections a few had during his fight against Grindlewald now, more than the kindly man he had become afterwards. "I will listen to each of you, but screaming does not make your case for you."

Snape nodded, and the silencing spell was lifted from him.

"Albus, I told you what I was doing three weeks ago. I even spoke to you about Mr. Potter being mentally attacked." Flitwick spoke up. "You sided with Severus about his not attacking Mr. Potter. I can at least be assured that he hasn't done it again, seeing as how Mr. Potter has not complained to me of it again."

"As I said then, Potter lies." Snape spoke, keeping his own voice from rising, but barely.

"Regardless," Flitwick threw Snape a nasty look, "I have only been reversing points for reasons above and beyond true disciplinary actions."

"Albus, would you like to see the numbers?" McGonagall offered.

"Yes, tainted by your House affiliation, Minerva. Your lions deserve every point I've taken from them." Snape shook his head. "They hexed me and attacked in a room full of volatile ingredients."

McGonagall looked at the Headmaster, who seemed to actually be leaning towards Snape's viewpoint. "Albus, I will resign as the Head of Gryffindor right now, if that's what it takes to get you to believe I'm being objective in this."

Dumbledore shook his head, eyes widening. "You don't need to do that, Minerva."

She pulled several dozen sheets of parchment from her own robe. "I have here the list of points, reasons, and by whom they were taken for the last week. Do you know how many points Severus has taken from students? Check the counters. It's over nine thousand!" Her voice had risen as she tried to keep the anger and audacity in check.

"What? Nine thousand?" Dumbledore looked at Snape in disbelief.

"While I may have been somewhat excessive in the number of points I took, Albus, it made no difference seeing as how I had three Heads willing to undo everything I did." Snape rebutted.

"Yes, because taking points off for a student having a cold, and saying he was asleep snoring is right." Sprout added in.

"You realize, I never enjoyed Dippet running roughshod over my classes with regards to discipline when I was the Transfiguration Professor. I swore that his auditing of every point change and challenging every detention handed out hamstrung a Professor's ability to enforce discipline." Dumbledore interrupted, before they could go any further. "So when I took the Headmaster's position, I swore I would not interfere with my teacher's ability to correct behavior in class."

The elder wizard sighed. "However, it appears that I'm going to have to put my wand into the situation. I hereby revoke all points given to all four houses. The counters are hereby reset to zero."

All the gathered teachers boggled at that. "Furthermore, just as Dippet did, you must now annotate every point you give and take. You will give me these lists once a week. If I disagree with the points either way, I will revoke those as well. If I do not get this list, I will revoke all the changes you have made. All detentions must be assigned to begin no earlier than three days from the infraction date and must be reported to myself ahead of time."

Snape was alternating between pale and red in the face. "Headmaster..." He began, before being cut off by Dumbledore once more. "If you feel that an infraction requires more immediate punishment, you may bring it to my attention and I will deal with it then."

Three of the four Heads of house were nodding, along with the other teachers. "I was just saying that something like this should be put into place." Lockhart said.

Dumbledore pinned him with a look. "This goes for all of the professors, even beyond the Heads. Do I make myself understood?"

All the various heads in the room bobbed in time.

Albus smiled then, the twinkle back in his eye. "Good, I'm glad we could have this conversation. Severus, the fourth year Gryffindors will be made to apologize to you. It will be your choice of publicly or privately. There will be no expulsions for this, however Messers Weasley and Jordan will be serving a month of detention with myself. Do you have anything else?"

Snape shook his head. "Publicly will be fine, Albus."

"Thank you." Dumbledore looked around the room. "I think we are done then. If you don't mind? I will make an announcement about this tomorrow, the rest of classes today are dismissed. Minerva, Fillius, please stay behind."

The assorted professors left, leaving behind just the three and Fawkes.

The room was quiet for a moment, before Dumbledore gave a sigh. "I truly did not wish to have to do this. Beyond the fact that it will take up what little free time we all have, I had hoped a freer hand would be better. Fillius, let us resolve your original issue. Will you go get Mr. Potter?"

Flitwick blinked before nodding. "Of course."

As the Ravenclaw Head of House left the office, Dumbledore looked to his Deputy. "Do you think Severus would attack a student with Legilimency?"

"Normally I would say no, but he never gave up his grudge against James, so I can't say here." Minerva answered.

* * *

Harry was, along with at least ninety percent of the Ravenclaws, sitting in the common room watching the door. Everyone was hoping that Professor Flitwick would be by to let them know what had happened.

Therefore, when the door opened and their Head of House stepped in, every head shifted to watch him.

Flitwick chuckled. "Most everything has been resolved successfully. However, Mr. Potter? If you would please come with me."

Harry stood a little worried.

_It will be alright, Harry. There is nothing you have done worthy of singling you out for punishment._ Shiva said quietly in his mind.

Harry followed Professor Flitwick out of the tower. As they started down the staircase, Harry spoke up. "Professor? Did I do something?"

"No, Mr. Potter. I'm sad to say that I never was able to get the issue with you being attacked resolved. Things came to a turning point tonight, however, and the Headmaster is going to resolve this issue as well."

Harry smiled a bit. "What about all the other stuff, with the Headmaster sending us back to the dorms? Could you tell me what happened?"

"The Headmaster will be making an announcement about it later. Hopefully not through the wards again." Flitwick shuddered. "It is the strangest sensation when he does so. Goes right through my bones."

* * *

"Harry, I do apologize for not taking the issue your Head of House brought up more seriously until now." Dumbledore smiled at Harry. "However, we are working on it now."

Harry nodded. "Thank you, sir."

"_He should have taken care of this issue long before now."_ Shiva stood off to one side of the office, alternating between watching the proceedings and poking at Fawkes. The firebird was good naturedly poking back with his wings.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at Fawkes, seeing the firebird poking at thin air. The application of some sort of charm on his own glasses made him smile. "I see what you mean, Fillius. Empress, you do look much different when Harry does not summon you."

Shiva looked over, blue eyebrow raised on blue skin. _"The same spell that the Charms professor cast to see magic?"_

"But anyways. From what I have been told, Shiva protected your mind from an attack? Professor Snape claimed you attacked him, and gave me a very detailed description of what the effects of your attack were on him, Harry."

"I promise, sir, I didn't attack him. And if Shiva did, it was only in defense." Harry answered back quickly.

"That is what I would like to learn. With your permission, I would like to use Legilimency on you. As much as it may pain me, if Shiva would rebut me in the same manner as the attack on you?" The Headmaster gave Harry a smile. "I will not hold it against you if I receive the same effects as Professor Snape did. If I do not, then we will have to see about what might have happened to Severus."

Shiva vanished. _This ought to be interesting. I have permission to destroy one of these mental attacks from the person doing so._

"Are you ready, Mr. Potter?" Dumbledore asked.

Professors McGonagall and Flitwick were standing to one side, to watch the proceedings.

Harry nodded.

"Look into my eyes then. _Legilmens!_" Dumbledore called as soon as Harry met the Headmaster's gaze.

_And there it is._ Shiva's voice floated through Harry's mind, speaking of something that Harry couldn't feel. _And here it goes._

Just as had happened over a month before, Harry felt as if someone had chopped his head open and dumped liquid ice in his head. His temples pulsed at the sensation and immediately a severe headache sprung alive.

The Headmaster stumbled back on his own, moaning lightly. Unnoticed to Harry but seen by the others in the room, the tip of the Headmaster's wand was covered in ice.

Sinking to a chair of his own, the Headmaster held his head in pain. Fawkes jumped off his perch and hopped over to the Headmaster. Crooning a song, both Harry and the Headmaster soon felt the effects fade.

_Interesting. Phoenix's song has a touch of warmth, enough to offset the energy that bled out._ Shiva commented, though Harry was just happy the headache was going away so much faster than before.

"Albus?" Professor McGonagall asked.

The Headmaster sighed as he scratched Fawkes crest. "Sadly, it appears that Professor Snape cannot keep his thoughts out of Mr. Potter's head." He looked over to the boy in question. "I give you my utmost apologies. I will be speaking with him over this. I will require he apologize to you, if you wish."

_Yes. _Shiva answered for Harry mentally.

Harry thought for a moment. "He's going to hate having to do that, and I never get farther than barely tolerated at the best of times, sir."

"I see. I will pull the two of you aside later, so he can make it privately." Dumbledore offered.

"I guess that'll work, sir." Harry nodded.

Dumbledore smiled. "Good, good. Now, if you would escort Mr. Potter back to his tower Fillius? I'd prefer that all the students stay in their dorms until tomorrow when I can make the announcement at breakfast."

Flitwick nodded. "Come then, Mr. Potter. Back we go."

After the two had left, Albus looked at his Deputy Headmistress. "Sadly, it appears my trust in Severus has been abused in this case."

* * *

After Flitwick had dropped Harry back off at the Ravenclaw tower with an admonishment for the students to not leave, Harry was fairly well swamped with questions.

"No, I don't know what went on. Professor Flitwick got me for something else related to what happened last month before all this started. All I know is there's going to be an announcement at breakfast in the morning."

* * *

**October 30**

After a long afternoon and evening being cooped up in their respective dorms, it was with great pleasure that the students fairly swarmed the Great Hall for breakfast the next morning.

As the students came in, however, breakfast was not available. The Headmaster was at the head table and had everyone sit as they came in.

After a good thirty minutes, the entire school population was present.

Dumbledore stood. "For many years I have been the Headmaster of this school. I have enjoyed watching all of my students grow and learn. However, in recent weeks the system of points and punishments has been badly abused. In discussion with Professor McGonagall in her role as Deputy Headmistress, there will be some changes. First however, I think there were some other people that needed to speak?"

At this, fifteen Gryffindors stood up from their table and looked at the Head table. They all looked fairly ashamed, even the Weasley twins and their partner in crime, Lee Jordan.

One of the twins, Harry guessed Fred, stepped forward, holding a parchment. "On behalf of the fourth year Gryffindors, we would all like to extend our apologies and regrets to Professor Snape." Amazingly, considering what little Harry knew about the prankster twins, he actually appeared to be serious about this. "While the actions of all the students during the past few weeks have not been good, we understand that our behavior was even worse."

Professor Snape himself looked a touch shocked over the actual apology. He had apparently been expecting a much quicker, less real apology. He nodded, and the Gryffindors sat down.

Dumbledore smiled. "Now. I have a few announcements. First and foremost. The near warfare that has been going on between the Houses will stop. The next group I catch fighting in such a manner will find themselves in detention for every second they are not in class, for the rest of their time at Hogwarts."

Utter silence met that proclamation. "Secondly, House points have been reset back to zero. All teachers will be reporting to me what points that they give or take, in addition to any detentions you will be serving. I will be going through all points and verifying whether they should be accepted or not. With this happening, I am officially splitting the Quidditch Cup from the House Cup points."

There were a few whispers about this, but the Headmaster continued. "In light of this, there will be something more than just the house banners displayed at the end of the year for the house that wins the Cup. What it is will remain a surprise until then." The twinkle was back in Dumbledore's eyes as he spoke on this.

Now the whispers were more excited. They quieted down though, as Dumbledore continued. "Finally, we will still be having our Halloween feast tomorrow evening. I do not wish for this to dampen anyone's spirit."

As Dumbledore sat down, breakfast appeared.

* * *

**October 31**

The day had been quiet, and Harry had noticed that all of his Professors in the past two days had been very leery of using points, for giving or taking. Professor Snape had held him after class for all of three seconds that morning with a quick "My apologies, it will not happen again" and the matter was shoved under the rug, so to speak.

Harry hadn't expected more, and didn't push for it either. Hopefully he could maintain his barely tolerated state with the Potions Master.

As Harry walked down to the feast he found the staircases had moved on him, forcing him to take a less direct path to dinner. Crossing over a hallway, Harry paused as he heard a low voice and then a giggle.

Quietly, Harry continued on his walk and found Roger and his girlfriend Sheila standing in the shadows of an alcove next to one of the suits of armor. They were talking, with Roger stealing kisses.

Harry coughed loudly and they seemed to jump apart.

Roger scowled at him. "Merlin, Harry. You don't have to scare me like that."

"Sorry." Harry just grinned. "I'm on my way to the feast, and the stairs decided I should go this way."

Sheila was apparently in too good a mood to be angry. She just waved Harry off. "Shoo, Harry. I've got things to discuss with Roger here."

Roger quickly caught her good mood back and nodded. "Thanks for the warning about the stairs, Harry. Now get before I make you do laps with a hundred pound quaffle."

Harry laughed and quickly moved away.

The Halloween feast was a quiet thing, with the Houses staying strongly separated. Harry enjoyed the meal regardless with a few of his friends. A large number of students didn't stay at the feast, preferring to eat and leave.

Harry was just about ready to be one of those students, along with Hermione and Terry, when a wailing scream was heard.

The hall got quiet as the scream came closer, before the doors bounded open. Cho Chang, a Ravenclaw third year, burst through them with tears in her eyes and a long drawn out wail. Several of the Professors were already up.

Flitwick was the first to reach his distraught student. "What is it, Miss Chang? What's happened?"

Cho stopped and fell to the floor as she sobbed. "R-Roger and Sh-Sh-Sheila. Something happened to them!"

The Headmaster had only been moments behind the Charms professor, and immediately put a hand on her shoulder. "Where are they, Miss Chang?" His voice was calm and kind.

She looked up. "N-Near the t-t-tower. They look so strange, they're not moving and Sheila l-looks so afraid!"

"Can you show me?" Cho nodded to Dumbledore's question. As he stood, he looked back at the students. "Yes, you may follow. If I or one of the professors tells you to leave, you will do so immediately, do I make myself clear?"

There was a sea of head nods as the students followed them out.

Cho led the way back towards Ravenclaw tower, in the same manner that Harry had come down. Harry had a bad feeling as Cho led almost half the school to the alcove where Harry knew they had been making out.

Harry was close enough to the front to see that the two Ravenclaws were standing very oddly. Roger appeared to be looking at the suit of armor over Sheila's head and his arms were held tight around her. Sheila appeared to have struggled to pull away as there were interesting indentions on her arms where she had managed to half turn as well.

Both didn't blink or even appear to be breathing.

Shiva appeared, floating above the crowd as she peered at the two herself.

"They're dead!" Cho wailed.

Dumbledore put his hand on the girl's shoulder even as he began casting spells against the two. "They're not dead, Miss Chang." His words caused her to taper off, hiccupping as she looked at him.

"Petrification? This is well and truly beyond even the best of the students." Dumbledore blinked. "Entire system petrification as well. It's a state of suspended life." His wand swept around. "This happened no less than forty minutes ago."

"_Harry, you need to summon me. I have to speak with your Headmaster again."_ Shiva's voice was cold. _"You apparently saw them moments before this happened to them. It is likely it was an attack on you again, and they were just the ones that got in the way of it."_

Harry's brow creased. _I'll admit I got attacked a lot last year, but you think this was directed at me?_ Harry's own response was a little skeptical.

"_Yes. I may know what happened to them as well, but I need to be physically there to feel the magic."_

Harry nodded. _Alright, as soon as I can talk to the Headmaster, I will._

"_Now would be best."_

Harry didn't answer as the Headmaster had already levitated the couple and was directing the students to split apart as he floated them in front of him. Flitwick followed, a worried look on his face.

"_Your friends already know of the Dragon's Voice. The longer we wait, the less I will be able to sense of the magic on them."_

"Headmaster?" Harry asked, following along as well.

"Not now, Mr. Potter. I need to get these two to the Hospital Wing." The Headmaster stated.

"Shiva said she might know."

The headmaster stopped in his tracks and Harry received a number of stares. Hermione and Terry were fairly well boggling at him.

"She is willing to help?" Dumbledore turned around, watching Harry now as Roger and Sheila were gently set back down on the ground.

"_Call me not for battle please, Harry."_

Harry nodded. _"[Shiva of Ice and Snow.]"_

As Harry began speaking, the students gasped and backed away. The air began to take a major chill and the teachers in the hall quickly pulled the students out of the range of what Harry was doing. Terry and Hermione had backed up plenty at Harry's first roaring hiss.

"_[At your request, I summon you forth not for battle but for your assistance. Magic I offer for your body so you may stand before me.]"_

Ice formed and shattered in front of Harry as Shiva appeared, dressed in her ice blue robes once more.

"Parseltongue?" The question raced through the students.

"No, it's the Dragon's Voice. I'll go have a conversation with Firewing later to prove it." Harry said out loud.

Shiva had already moved over to the two students, trailing a finger along the cheek of Sheila. "I recognize this magic, but I do not know from where." She sounded frustrated to no end. "It has a taint on it that is keeping me from remembering it."

"Do you at least know the effect, madam?" Dumbledore asked.

"It is a state of complete suspension. Likely, when they wake they will not even register the passing of time, for it does not pass for them."

"Petrification then. A mandrake restorative will fix them. Fillius, will you please take them to the Hospital Wing?" Dumbledore nodded. He motioned to Flitwick, who levitated them and continued. Very few of the students followed, most appeared more interested in listening to the new blue lady.

"If you say so." Shiva nodded. "This was not an attack aimed at them, however."

"Oh?"

"Harry saw them what was probably moments before this happened. I say it was aimed at him, considering the attacks on him last year. Why is this school so unsafe, Headmaster?" Her voice had gone cold, and the students that Harry was ignoring quit pestering him and watched silently now.

"I have no idea what caused this either. I cannot say it was an attack on Mr. Potter either. I will, however, find out exactly what caused this."

"I will give you the benefit of the doubt, considering you have made up for Harry's problems this year so far. Please do not fail." Shiva vanished once more, and a pile of ice and snow was left behind.

In Harry's mind he heard Shiva ranting, trying to puzzle out what the tainted feel was. _It was the same thing I sensed before, but stronger. And tainted. What IS it?_

Dumbledore looked at Harry and smiled. "You may want to go speak with Firewing soon, Mr. Potter." He motioned to all the students around them.

A fair number of them were still whispering about parseltongue.

Harry pinched his nose at the incoming headache. "Do I have permission to go speak with him now?"

Albus nodded. "Go ahead, I know you wish to deal with rumor before it begins. I will go speak with Madam Pomfrey about your housemates. We may have to wait a while to wake them up, however. I do not think we have any Mandrakes on hand."

"Buy 'em." Harry said, turning to go, headed towards Hagrid's hut and hopefully Firewing. The students trailed after him.

Dumbledore chuckled. "That is the plan, Mr. Potter."

* * *

So, we've seen some resolution, but now the school has a new attacker to worry about.

Read and Review, please!


	24. Dragons and Snakes

A/N: I blame a combination of mental block against the first scene, and the fact that I've been packing for the past few days as to why this took so long to get out. The Firewing scene still doesn't feel right to me, but I didn't want to make you all wait any longer.

* * *

It was an interesting mix of all four Houses that all went walking outside the school that evening, picking up stragglers as they appeared, explanations of exactly what was going on were blown out of proportion by the repeating of the story.

Harry couldn't hear it, but already the whispers were saying he had bent a divine spirit to his beck and call, that had diagnosed two students of some malady. Harry had spoken in parseltongue, no he called it the Dragon's Voice. No, he'd stolen the voice of a dragon to command the spirit and they were on the way to Firewing to give him his voice back.

By the time the large group made it out to the area near the Forbidden Forest that Firewing called home, some of the more gullible students might be forgiven for believing that Harry had divine powers himself. And had refused to heal the students that had been turned to stone. Thankfully for Harry's sanity, there wasn't enough time for the stories to get really wild.

"Firewing!" Harry yelled into the fading dusk, not trusting his footsteps among the rocks. There was no answer. _"[Firewing!]"_ Harry's voice seemed to be a hiss that went among the rocks as he spoke in the Dragon's Voice. Still though, there was no answer from the Fireball, and there was muttering from the crowd.

"_[FIREWING! Where are you!]"_ Harry's voice rose from his chest in a rumbling roar that seemed to only hold a fraction of the hissing that it had a moment before.

There was an echoing roar at a different pitch as Firewing stood up into view of the students. The Chinese Fireball looked over the crowd and walked over. _"[Hi! You're talking to me again! Yay!]"_ The dragon's own warbling roar answered Harry, even as Firewing headbutted him to the ground.

A number of students jumped back as Harry fell, wands out and ready even though Harry was laughing. _"[Sorry Firewing, I wasn't trying to be mean earlier.]"_ Harry answered him as he stood back up.

"Damn Potter, you really can talk to the dragon?" One of the older students that Harry didn't recognize spoke. "Does he have anything interesting to say?"

"He's less than a year old." Harry answered back to the group. "Firewing can talk, but mainly he just wants to talk about anything he's seen. And about Hagrid, his man-momma."

There were a lot of wide eyes and laughs at that comment.

"So the dragon is just a dumb beast then?" One of the upper year Slytherins stepped forward, peering at Firewing. "And here I had thought you might have a useful talent, Potter." His tone was dismissive.

"_[What did he say? He sounded like the black haired man who made man-momma upset before.]"_ Firewing questioned Harry. _"[And why can't you all talk to me? I don't understand them.]"_

Harry sighed, but didn't lie. _"[He said you were a dumb beast.]"_

Firewing's eyes lit up for a moment and a touch of smoke left his mouth, before he headbutted the boy. Even an older student didn't have the body mass to ignore the horse sized dragon's poke, and he fell to the ground. _"[I am not a dumb beast!]"_

Firewing then pushed heavily with his wings, gaining lift and gliding back into his little rocky home.

"You can still insult him though, which he doesn't like." Harry had a slight grin on his face.

* * *

The next two weeks were quiet and tense, as all the students were being very cautious and careful about not getting into trouble.

Thankfully, no one else was petrified, but Harry learned that even though the new mandrakes that showed up in Professor Sprout's greenhouse were ready, the potion itself was a four week creation process.

It was at dinner one night that Professor Dumbledore stood up to make an announcement. "With all that has happened recently, I have been approached by our Defense Professor," here Lockhart stood, waved to the students, and took a bow, "with the suggestion of a dueling club. Professors Snape and Flitwick have both agreed to assist with this as well."

The buzz of whispers rose quickly in the Great Hall, as people gazed towards each other, rivals in mind as they considered.

Dumbledore's twinkle could be seen as he continued. "Now, I expect everyone to respect their fellow student and their Professors. The first meeting will be tomorrow evening here in the Great Hall at seven."

The headmaster sat back down even as all the students continued to discuss the announcement.

The remaining members of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, including Harry, were eyeing their Slytherin counterparts with glee at the thought of getting back at them.

Hermione looked at Harry and shook her head, mouthing to Padma 'Boys.' Padma gave her a grin back.

The next evening, just about every student in the school turned out in the Great Hall. The House tables had been replaced by several long platforms.

Professor Lockhart was standing on the central platform as everyone gathered. "It is wonderful to see you all gathered here, ready and willing to learn the fine art of dueling! My esteemed colleagues Professor Flitwick and Professor Snape have agreed to be my assistants."

Lockhart smiled brightly at the polite applause that was given. "Now, I know that most of you have never seen a true duel before, so I thought I might showcase one for you." Lockhart turned to the other two professors, standing off to the side of the dueling platform and watching. Neither looked entirely happy. "Would one of you please step up? I promise not to take you out too quickly." He chuckled.

Snape had almost stepped forward until the last part. An evil smirk passed over him though at Lockhart's last sentence and he stepped back. "Filius?" He asked, looking at his companion.

The little Charms professor's face had gone blank as he stepped forward onto the dueling platform.

Lockhart turned and smiled for the crowd of students once more. "Now, to begin. When you duel professionally, one always bows to their opponent." Lockhart faced Flitwick, and the two bowed to each other.

Harry noted that Lockhart's bow barely bent his back, while Professor Flitwick bent until his back was parallel with the platform.

"Professor Snape, if you would?" Lockhart called, his wand held up.

Snape's sallow face seemed almost happy, which every student knew meant no good. "On my wand drop then." He drawled out. He lifted his wand and the tip lit up. He dropped it, and the light coming from his wand extinguished.

"Expelliarmus!" Lockhart yelled out, the energy of the spell flying straight at Flitwick. The Charms professor looked almost stunned as he held his own wand out at the spell, catching it on the tip of his wand and knocking it aside.

"Expelliarmus? I thought we were showing the students what a true duel looked like, Professor Lockhart." Flitwick said calmly. "In the forty years I was on the duel circuit, not a single person ever opened with Expelliarmus. Do you know why?" Flitwick was shaking his head.

"I wanted to show the students what spell they would be starting with tonight." Lockhart started.

The upper years looked fairly disgusted at that.

"That's a third year charm that I teach. If that was going to be the type of dueling club you were going to hold, I must admit this is going to be a very poor club." Flitwick scowled now. "You called one of us up here, and then said you wouldn't take too long. Well, let us see."

Snape touched his wand to the platform and the air flickered.

"I'll start with First Year lessons, Professor Lockhart." Flitwick's scowl changed to a genial smile. "You may do whatever."

Whatever, for Professor Lockhart, turned out to be shielding like mad as Flitwick proceeded to throw every charm he taught at the Defense instructor. Within minutes, Lockhart's hair had promptly been changed to eight different shades of orange, his boots had unlaced and re-laced themselves together, and Lockhart had had to revert a simple Levitation charm off of his wand arm to be able to cast once more.

"Second year now." Flitwick smiled.

"Percussio! Diffendo!" Lockhart shouted, magic racing towards the still unmoved Charms professor. They were batted aside once more.

Ten minutes later, Lockhart was trussed up, hanging upside down, had six different cosmetic charms applied, and was slowly spinning in place. Under all the makeup and additions he looked quite green.

"Oh, yes." Flitwick tapped his chin. "I forgot. Expelliarmus." The jet of magic hit Professor Lockhart, yanking the wand out of Lockhart's hand where Flitwick had previous used a sticking charm to keep him holding it.

He then turned to the awed students. "Expellimus is used at the end of a series of spells, or at the end of a duel, to take the wand from your opponent." Flitwick gave his wand a wave at the floating Lockhart. "Finite."

The Defense teacher fell as all the charms applied to him dropped, though with a second wave of his wand Lockhart was caught at the last moment and righted.

Flitwick tossed his wand back to him. "How about I will take the NEWT level students, Professor Snape will take the third through fifth year students, and you can begin the first and second years on proper dueling?"

"Yes, yes. Splendid idea." Lockhart grinned uneasily. "Come students, let's get set up over here." Lockhart quickly got off the platform he was on and herded the younger students over to one side of the hall where there was a couple of platforms and plenty of open space.

"Alright, let's split you all up into pairs and you'll begin with the Expelliarmus charm." Lockhart had recovered his award winning smile by this point.

"Professor Lockhart, it's not going to do my partner any good. I don't use a wand." Harry looked across from him, where somehow the young red headed fan girl, one of the Weasley bunch, had managed to snag him for a partner.

"Nonsense, my boy. Just because you're the Boy-Who-Lived doesn't mean you can't lose your focus!" Lockhart grinned.

Harry rolled his eyes. "It's not..." he paused. "Look, you want to try it first, Professor?" Harry offered his arm out.

"And then you'll go back to your practice, yes?" Lockhart smiled. "You need to do more to work on your image, Mr. Potter, before people will believe everything you say."

Harry just sighed.

"Now. Expelliarmus!" Lockhart's spell hit Harry's armlet dead center, and it didn't shift at all. "Odd. One more time, Expelliarmus!" Again, nothing happened.

"Well, I guess you'll just have to sit this out then, Mr. Potter." Lockhart looked at Harry's armlet curiously.

"Actually, Professor." Draco spoke up, and pointed to where the older students were each taking turns at the dueling platforms already, firing at each other. "I'd like to challenge Potter."

Harry grinned.

"And you can actually duel, Mr...?" Lockhart asked, unsure of Draco's name.

"Malfoy." Draco's eyes narrowed at the professor. "And yes. But are you sure Potter can?"

"I can." Harry's grin hadn't fallen. He still wanted a piece of Draco from his cowardly attack last month on the Quidditch pitch.

"Well, far be it from me to not allow two students to showcase their abilities." Lockhart smiled again, motioning for the two to come up.

Harry and Draco both got up onto the dueling platform, looking at each other. "Alright then, bow to your opponent." Lockhart called. "Then begin!"

The two boys bowed to each other. Draco came up first, having barely even bent in his bow. "Petrificus Totalis!"

Coming up from his own bow, Harry touched his armlet and pulled magic, tracing a circle in the air. "Protego!" The gold tinged shield appeared before Harry as he cast the original version of that spell and Draco's own spell splashed harmlessly against it.

Harry responded with a Slug spitter and watched as Draco dove out of the way, unable to summon his own shield. And seeing as how Defense had been self study for the past two years, Harry recalled back to some of that study. "Ocularis Ignis!"

The Eyes of Fire spell was actually somewhat misnamed. It didn't burn, but instead blinded by creating a temporary, tiny flame that flickered and created after images, like staring at the sun would do.

Draco flinched back from the spell, his own wand twisting as several small jinxes and hexes flew in his general direction as he tried to blink away the after images. Harry shielded once more.

"Furnunculus!" The boils curse was difficult for Harry, as the magic required behind it took motions that really wasn't suited for his own focus. And it was a fourth year curse that Roger had taught him only days before he'd been Petrified.

Apparently Draco knew what it was though, because at the casting he threw himself onto the floor of the platform, rolling underneath the spell as it passed overhead. Harry winced as he saw that Lockhart hadn't raised any shield or anything, and the curse flew away and hit someone in the third to fifth year group. He could see the boils being raised from here.

"Bombarda!" Harry didn't recognize that one and shielded once more as Draco took advantage of Harry watching the other spell escape. The spell plowed through the normal Protego Harry had been using and into his stomach, throwing him backwards, almost off the platform.

_Harry! Are you alright? _Shiva's voice was concerned as Harry gingerly held his stomach and coughed, which sent even more pain through him.

"Ha, Potter! A single spell reduces you to nothing!" Draco was now standing again, wand held loosely in his hand as he put down Harry.

_Hurts, but I'm ok._ Harry thought back to her.

"_Shield then. The full shield. From now on, if you fight you start out as hard as you can. There is no reason to allow your enemy a chance to overcome you. You must always overcome them first."_ Shiva appeared next to Harry. _"You were attacked last year. I know you are being targeted this year. Do not give your attackers a chance."_

"Protego!" From his sitting position, Harry threw his magic forward, creating the shield he and Nicholas Flamel had designed. It snapped into place. Harry staggered back to his feet, even as Draco spoke. "That was your shield, Potter? Bombarda! Bombarda!"

Draco's own spells were negated at the shield, not even a single ward spoke falling.

"_However, since you are not aiming to kill, you should disable your opponent as quickly as possible."_ Shiva continued.

Harry nodded, focusing. He didn't need to touch the armlet for Command magic, and his next words were just that. "Toad!"

"What was that, Potter?" Draco was laughing, even as he continued trying to bring down Harry's shield.

Shiva spoke to Harry again. _"He resisted it, you did not put enough power into the Command to overcome his own magic's resistance. Again!"_

"Fine." Harry drew upon his magic, focusing on the blond on the other side of the shield. "Imp!"

The force of Harry's magic overwhelmed whatever innate resistance Draco's own magic might have provided. Draco found himself shrunk down to a bit smaller than Professor Flitwick and his skin turned a blue-green color. On his back was an odd, spiky shell.

The Draco-imp teetered for a moment before he found his balance once more.

"_Very good."_ Shiva complimented Harry.

And then there was a roar of magic from Draco as the tiny imp yelled "Serpentsoria!"

"I think that's enough, boys!" Lockhart called, eyes wide as a twenty foot python appeared, towering over Harry's shield, still separating the two boys.

Screams erupted from the first and second years, even as the older students turned. From the far side of the room, both Professor Flitwick and Snape could be seen charging through the numerous students towards the duel.

"_[Back off! Lay down!]"_ Harry yelled, his voice slipping into a sibilant hiss as his eyes were wide at the sight.

The snake seemed to bow its head, though everyone looked at Harry with shock.

"_[No, kill him, kill him! I brought you here, I command you! Kill him for what he did to me!]"_

Harry's own face was filled with shock now, as he heard Draco's own voice speaking as the changed Slytherin hissed aloud.

The snake reared back up, overcoming Harry's own command to it to obey the one who conjured it as it began leaning forward. _Kill me? _Harry thought, surprise going through him at Draco's command to the snake.

"_Kill it. And then him." _Shiva's voice was cold.

"Blizzaga." A roar of magic flowed through Harry as he bypassed wizarding magic, drawing winter into the Great Hall, deeper cold than Hogwarts had seen in decades. The giant snake shivered as its own biology worked against it, before it froze and fell, slamming into the shield that was still there. The shield buckled and seemed to slice partway through the snake before it collapsed.

"Stupefy!" Harry heard two voices shout the spell even as he looked across the dead snake at the changed Draco. Harry focused to cast again, but then he knew no more, as one of the stunners hit him.

He didn't get to see the release of magic as the Bolt he'd been focusing on lost its focus, lightning arcing out from him for a moment.

* * *

Harry woke up on a couch with Professor Flitwick sitting across from him. Looking around, he found himself in the Charms professor's office though he didn't remember the couch being here last time.

"So, Mr. Potter. Not that I blame you for defending yourself against Mr. Malfoy's creature, but did you have to turn a portion of the Great Hall into a freezer to do so?" Flitwick had a smile on his face.

Harry sat up, shaking his head. "He told the snake to kill me." Harry looked at the Charms professor. "So I was going to return the favor."

"_This is getting out of hand, Harry."_ Shiva said, appearing on the couch. _"What is it with you, giant creatures, and attempts on your life?"_

Flitwick had a look of disapproval on his face. "I'm not going to dismiss it outright, but one wrong turn does not deserve another."

"I might agree with you, Professor. Except when it comes to people trying to kill me, then I'm going to try my best to make sure they don't." Harry shook his head. "What are they doing with Draco, anyways? He was able to command that thing and it was big enough to eat several people."

"It's being looked into. Both of you spoke parseltongue, so right now there's a lot of uncertainty going around."

"I was speaking in the Dragon's Voice, Professor. The fact that snakes are included doesn't mean it's parseltongue. Go have Draco try to talk to Firewing before you say he's speaking with the Dragon's Voice though."

Flitwick nodded, looking thoughtful for a moment.

"_Are you going to let him get away with trying to kill you?"_ Shiva questioned him.

Harry shook his head, frowning. _No, but I'm not going to go find him either. I don't know how easily he can summon those snakes. If it's too easy, he'd have too many snakes before I could get to him._

"Mr. Potter?" Flitwick said, catching Harry's attention once more. "I'm going to have to ask the both of you to not look for retribution against Mr. Malfoy."

Harry gave the professor a nonplussed look. "You didn't read my mind."

"No, Mr. Potter. Your face was easy enough to do so, and I could guess the trail of your thoughts." Flitwick answered him. "Now, will you agree to that?"

"_I will not agree to not protect you. What promises can he make that it will not happen again?"_ Shiva looked angrily at the professor, though he couldn't see it.

"I won't go looking for him, Professor. If I get attacked again though, I've already seen I shouldn't start off small in response." Harry said. "That's as good as I'm going to promise, because I will defend myself."

Flitwick smiled. "There is a saying there, Mr. Potter. An eye for an eye. All I am asking you for is a clean slate."

Shiva looked startled and then laughed. _"He is a little better than I had thought. I will not trust the boy, but I will watch your back until he attacks you again."_

Harry nodded after Shiva spoke. "Alright."

"Thank you, Mr. Potter." Flitwick nodded. "You can get back to your dorm if you'd like. The dueling club is over for the night, and will reconvene next Saturday."

Harry stood. "Thanks, Professor Flitwick."

* * *

The next morning, it was discovered that Professor Lockhart had vanished from the castle.

* * *

So, things are heating up again.

Read and Review please!


	25. Lockhart, Unlocked, Locked up

A/N:So, I've had several reviews and comments from people asking about Esuna/Dispel/Stona/etc that should fix this problem much easier than it's been. Here, most white magics don't exist. It would be entirely too easy to drop Esuna on those afficted, and Dispel on things like Horcruxes. The only white magic that exists is the simple Cure spell, and Harry's affinity would make it wildly expensive for him to cast it. No, I won't tell you what his affinity actually is.

* * *

It wasn't noticed immediately however.

At breakfast, Professor Lockhart wasn't at the head table, which was strange but understandable, considering everything that had happened the prior evening during the dueling club.

So that was written off.

It was during the first hour of classes when the fourth year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws showed up for double Defense that the first clue that there was a problem appeared.

Harry was in Charms when the door to the classroom opened and several of his housemates stepped inside, almost thirty minutes into the lesson.

"Professor Flitwick?" John Chambers interrupted the class. "Professor Lockhart isn't in class."

Flitwick turned from the class to look at the fourth years. "Oh?"

"Yes sir. We looked in his office and waited twenty minutes for him to show up. He didn't leave word with any of his portraits either." John looked at the Ravenclaw Head of House. "A couple of us stayed in the classroom in case he came back, but..."

Flitwick sighed. "Go back and let your classmates know they're excused, if Professor Lockhart hasn't made it to class by then."

The older students nodded and left.

Harry leaned over to Terry. "You think he left, after last night?"

"I guess, but wouldn't he have packed his stuff in that case?" Terry asked back.

Harry nodded. "I would have."

* * *

By dinner, it was apparent to everyone that Professor Lockhart was no longer in the castle. He hadn't shown up for six classes, and by the time Harry had gone to Defense for the day, Professor Dumbledore was once again teaching the class.

"I am sorry to announce that the Defense Against the Dark Arts position has once again become vacant." Dumbledore announced to the unsurprised students. "Therefore, I will be taking over the classes, with the other professors stepping in as required."

"So, curse on the Defense teacher strikes again." A seventh year shook his head. "It's getting worse. Used to be we'd at least get to Easter before they quit or ran off."

"How many years did they make it through the full schoolyear?" Harry asked, morbid thoughts about last year's Defense teacher running through his head.

"My first and fourth years." He answered. "Professor Ipitz was my first year professor, and he literally died on his feet during the finals. No one realized he'd been bitten by an Acromantula earlier in the day. Professor Underhill made it all the way through, but she told us on the first day she'd already turned in her notice that she was quitting on the last day of school."

"Beat the curse by agreeing to leave?" Hermione spoke up, looking interested. "If there is actually a curse, can't anyone break it?"

The seventh year shrugged. "I think they've tried. It's either unbreakable, or just really bad luck that causes all the Defense professors to not make it past a single year."

Hermione huffed.

"So, what do you think happened to Professor Lockhart?" Harry asked the table. "Since he left all of his stuff here."

The table devolved into different theories over what could have caused Lockhart to leave, running into the night without any of his things. Scared of Professor Flitwick's retribution? But why not take his things with him, or speak with the Headmaster about it?

Whatever had happened to Roger and Sheila was brought up, but since it was still almost two weeks before the potion that would heal them would be ready, no one knew what had happened to them. And Lockhart hadn't been petrified, he just wasn't there.

The whole time Shiva sat quietly, watching the room around Harry, her ethereal eyes not staying on any one thing. Occasionally, Harry's eyes looked up and met hers, before he looked around as well.

* * *

The entire House had tried to show up in the Hospital Wing the day the mandrake restorative was finished. Unfortunately for the vast majority of them, Madam Pomfrey had barred them access. She only allowed their friends and the Quidditch team in first.

Professor Flitwick and the Headmaster were there as well, to try to find out what had caused the petrification.

Harry and the few others allowed in crowded the space around the bed that Roger and Sheila had been put into. The two were still holding each other, as it hadn't been possible to separate them.

Madam Pomfrey held up two small potion vials, each holding a small amount of a purplish green liquid that actually seemed to swirl under its own power.

"Since their mouths aren't open, how are you going to get them to drink it?" Harry asked curiously.

Madam Pomfrey smiled at the question. "This particular potion can be taken three different ways. One is drinking it. The second it Vanishing it into the person, but that can cause issues as the paralysis is ended where the potion is able to take effect in that case. So the stomach would become unparalyzed, then as it traveled through the body so would the rest of it. The third way is topical, over the eyes."

Several students winced at the idea of having a potion put into their eyes.

"It's the quickest way to the nervous system." Madam Pomfrey smiled, before tipping one of the vials over Roger's eyes, then applying the second potion to Sheila. "It'll be about twenty minutes and they both will be back to normal."

It was interesting to watch as the potion took effect. Within moments both had closed their eyes, as they instinctively tried to moisten their eyes after they'd been open for so long. At the five minute mark, Sheila took a deep breath in, like she was going to scream but then paused.

"Miss Fawcett?" Dumbledore and Flitwick both spoke up at once.

"I can't move." Her voice trembled as she whispered quietly, barely able to get her voice out.

"Just a few more minutes and you'll be able to." Pomfrey said. "You're in the Hospital Wing."

Sheila fell a bit as Roger's arms relaxed their hold. "What the bloody hell?" He asked.

Flitwick grinned. "I won't take points for that, Mr. Davies, if only because of the situation."

Ten minutes more and both Ravenclaws were sitting on their own on the bed, still trying to get the kinks out of their bodies as the last of the petrification wore off.

"As much as I do not wish to ask you to recall the event, I would like to know what you remember seeing." Dumbledore smiled at the two revived students as everyone crowded around them, trying to make sure they were ok.

Roger coughed and looked down, a blush on his face. Sheila didn't look much better. "Well, um, we were um..." Roger started.

"I understand the basic gist of what you were doing." Flitwick's voice was gently teasing. "You don't have to go into that."

"Well, I was kissing Sheila and looked over her shoulder to make sure no one was coming. We'd already gotten caught once by Harry." Roger looked chagrined. "But I saw something really weird in the armor. Something was moving, and then I saw yellow. And next thing I know I'm waking up here."

Sheila nodded, holding herself. Bruises could still be seen on her arms from Roger's frozen hands. "Roger froze up, and I couldn't get loose. I twisted around and I guess I saw the same thing. A reflection of something off the armor. I heard something moving too, I think."

"Was the entire thing yellow?" Flitwick asked.

"No, but the yellow caught my attention." Roger shivered. "Last thing that did, I guess."

Dumbledore nodded, his eyes twinkling once more. "I see. Your friends would probably like to fill you in on what has been happening in the past month."

"It's been kinda crazy, yeah." One of Roger's friends laughed.

"_Do you think the Headmaster knows what attacked them?"_ Shiva asked Harry as the old wizard left the Hospital Wing.

_Not much of a description to go off of. Something moving, that was at least partially yellow?_ Harry answered back.

"Merlin! Lockhart's gone?" Sheila was astounded at what she was hearing.

* * *

The next week forms went around the tower for those people that were staying at the castle for the holidays. Harry was one of the first ones to sign up to stay, as he'd been away from the Dursleys for over a year now. If he could stretch it out to forever that might be just long enough for him.

"So who all is staying this year?" Harry asked his yearmates as they sat in the common room, working on homework.

There was a round of 'no's' from everyone until Luna, who had decided that the second years were better friends than her yearmates, spoke up. "I'll be staying here. Daddy isn't going to be in the country for the holidays."

"Well, at least I'll have some company." Harry smiled.

Hermione huffed, closing the book she was reading. "There's nothing involving petrification in this. _An Introduction to Magical Maladies_ my foot."

Her outburst drew the attention of several of her classmates, and she blushed. "Sorry. I'm still trying to figure out what got Sheila. The mandrake restorative is listed in here, so I'd hoped it would have whatever happened to them as well. But no, it's just got a few weird cases of things like Stone Bones, or it being the remedy for an allergic reaction to metal flowers."

"They were attacked, Hermione." Harry said, for what felt like the ten thousand time. "They saw something, and then they were petrified. I doubt it's something common and in an intro book."

Hermione stood. "True. Alright, I'm going to go find more advanced medical books! There has to be something." Dumping all her books in her bag, Hermione headed for the door.

Terry grinned and stood, chasing after her. "You want some company?"

"Uh, sure." Hermione looked a little flustered, but undeterred from her path.

Once the two left, Harry looked down at his own homework, finally finished. "Three feet on warming charms and their usage is entirely too long."

Harry pulled another book out, this one much larger and less familiar to those at the table. As he flipped it open to a bookmark near the center, he noticed the looks he was getting.

"That's bigger than _Hogwarts: A History_. What is it?" Michael looked at the book curiously.

Harry looked up from the book. "_The Numbers of Movements_, it's a list of wand movements and what they're good for, and the math behind them. I'm trying to figure out whether Draco conjured or created that snake at the first dueling club night."

"What's the difference?" Padma asked.

"Conjured would mean it was still magic, and that's why my Protego sliced it before it fell. Created means it was physically there, and my Protego was able to stop something solid." Harry explained. "But even knowing what the wand movements and incantation were, it's pretty much impossible to break it down."

"You're trying to Arithmantically break down a spell? With that little information? You realize that's gotta be post NEWT level Arithmancy, right?" Michael spoke up.

Harry shrugged. "Can't do much else with it."

Michael rolled his eyes. "You're thinking too heavily on this, Harry. You can cast the spell yourself, right?" Harry nodded, and then he then looked at the others. "Can any of you cast Protego?"

"I can." Padma spoke up.

"Perfect. Cast it please." Michael watched as Padma cast the shield spell, the lightly glowing magic appearing between her and Harry. "Alright Harry, cast the snake spell and make it try to go through her shield. If it goes through, you know the snake is created, not conjured."

Harry shook his head, before touching his armlet. "Serpensoria." A little black snake appeared, already compelled by Harry's magic as to what to do. It slithered through the shield without issue, before turning back to Harry.

Harry's own eyes were wide. "That's awesome." He waved his hand at the snake to dismiss it. "Alright, I'm done with you." The snake did nothing.

"Harry, if it's created, you can't just dismiss it." Michael said to him.

"_The boy created a huge snake like that?"_ Shiva mused to Harry. _"That speaks of a rather large amount of power. A dangerous level, in the hands of someone that wanted you dead."_

Harry nodded back to Shiva, picking up the snake. "Guess I have to go release it then." _So he's an idiot with a lot of power and doesn't like me. Great._

* * *

After having released the little snake into the grass outside the castle, Harry took the long way back to the Ravenclaw tower, intent on going through the library to check on Hermione and Terry, possibly giving them some grief if Terry was actually hitting on Hermione like he thought he might be.

Therefore, the piercing scream of Hermione's that echoed through the halls as he got close to the library startled Harry. What scared him half to death was the way it cut off completely, so suddenly.

"_Be careful, Harry!"_ Shiva yelled at him, even as Harry dashed off. Harry angled away from the library doors that smashed open, Terry coming through at a dead run. Madam Pince wasn't far behind him, though she didn't run.

Terry had his wand in hand and Harry focused on his own magic as they ran around the corner, the girls restroom ahead of them, water literally flooding out underneath the door, which was partway open.

Hermione stood, back against the wall, staring down into the flowing puddle, pooling around her feet. "Hermione!"

The girl did not respond, and as the two boys slid to a halt in the water, Harry noticed she wasn't blinking or moving in the slightest. "Damn it!"

Harry stared at his friend, missing seeing Shiva run partially through the door, into the girl's restroom.

"Hermione! Hermione! Damn it, snap out of it!" Harry hit the wall next to her, before trying to shake her. Whatever held her petrified wouldn't even allow Harry to properly shake her.

"What's going... Oh Merlin, what happened?" Madam Pince said, finally catching up to the students. Her hand came up, covering her mouth.

Harry concentrated. "Float." The frozen form of his friend lifted up as Harry looked at Terry and the librarian. "We need to take her to Madam Pomfrey. I hope she still has some of that mandrake potion left."

Shiva came back from the bathroom, solemn. _"Several of the faucets in here are shattered, that's causing the water to run out here. Whatever attacked her was in there at one point."_

Harry took Hermione's hand and began guiding her floating body towards the Hospital Wing. _It's gotta be a creature, right? What the hell._ Harry responded back to her.

* * *

"She said she had to go to the restroom. She was gone all of three minutes!" Terry was haranguing himself as he opened the door to the Hospital Wing, allowing Harry to draw Hermione in. "How was I supposed to know she'd get attacked? Hell, what was it!"

Madam Pince had not followed, instead saying she was going to get the Headmaster.

"I don't know, Terry. Hopefully Hermione can tell us here in a few minutes." Harry said, before calling out for Madam Pomfrey.

The Healer took one look at the floating girl and her jaw dropped. "What the in the world happened?"

Harry pulled her over one of the beds, releasing the Float magic. "Do you have any more of the mandrake restorative?"

"No." She shook her head. "It only lasts three days before breaking down. It'll have to be re-brewed."

The door opened again, allowing the Headmaster access. He looked between the students, the petrified Hermione, and Madam Pomfrey. The twinkle in his eye was non-existent as his shoulders seemed to droop. "This would explain this morning's theft then."

"What do you mean, Albus?" Madam Pomfrey turned on the Headmaster. "What theft, and how does it explain anything?"

"The remaining mandrakes disappeared from the greenhouses. It was reported by Pomona this morning." The Headmaster looked at Hermione sadly.

"We can still get more though, right?" Harry prompted.

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, but the dead of winter is not the best time for mandrakes. They are normally covered in sixth year, but they have two seasons where they can be harvested for the restorative potion. We were just on the end of the first one at Halloween. Another crop won't be ready, even from the year round greenhouses, for another three months."

"_I am beginning to doubt even the basic safety of anyone in this school. Had I my full body, I would be tempted to shatter the stones in search of whatever it is attacking people."_ Shiva's voice was icy to Harry. _"I do not want you to be next."_

_I'd rather you not destroy the school though._ Harry thought back to her, staring at his friend.

"So we've gotta wait three months to find out what attacked her? She might have gotten a better look at it though!" Harry slumped into the chair next to Hermione. "Damn it."

"Language." Madam Pomfrey said distractedly, already casting charms to try to get a better reading on whatever had attacked Hermione.

The Headmaster placed a hand on the shoulder of both boys. "How about we go back to your dorms. It will do the two of you no good to stay here."

* * *

So, read, review, all that good jazz, yes? Christmas is right around the corner, wonder what'll happen next, don't you?


	26. An Unfortunate Note

A/N: So, who here thought this was abandoned? I realize that the title probably didn't help any. *grin* I guess I need to give you guys a bit of backstory on why this took so long. Back in August, my wife got a new job in a city about 850 miles away from where we lived. She moved up there, while I went on a job hunting spree to get up there as well. I got one six weeks later and moved the whole house. So yeah, that knocked me back a bit. Also, about 1800 words in, I hit writer's block. It's gone now. The last few scenes were all written in the course of about two days as I finally got on a roll again.

Note, I have to go on a business trip for my new job tomorrow, so I may or may not have writing time for the next couple of weeks. Hopefully I will. We're within three chapters of finishing this. I already have a title and outline started for the sequel.  
This is un-beta'd, though a beta'd version is likely to be uploaded by tomorrow.

* * *

_Mr. Flamel,_

_It looks like last year wasn't just a fluke with really strange things happening. On Halloween, a couple of students were petrified, but no one knows what did it, even after they were unpetrified a month later. All we know is it was something at least partially yellow._

_And it happened again yesterday, with my friend Hermione. And the mandrakes that the Headmaster had gotten were stolen, so whoever is doing this at least knows what they are doing. The Headmaster says that we won't be able to purchase any more mandrakes for at least three months, which means that Hermione is going to be stuck petrified pretty much for the rest of the school year. Do you know of a potion or something that can undo petrification like a mandrake restorative?_

_Tell Mrs. Flamel I said hi as well, please, and early Merry Christmas to the both of you._

_(signed)_

_Harry_

Harry folded up the parchment up and tucked it into an envelope, sighing.

Looking around the common room, Harry couldn't help but notice the air of apprehension. It made him uneasy too, not knowing who or what was attacking people. Shiva had immediately suspected Draco because of his attempt to kill him during the dueling club, but Harry wasn't sure.

The Slytherin boy hadn't been doing much since then, having been thrown out of the dueling club by Professor Flitwick, over the protestations of Professor Snape. In fact, Harry thought that someone must have warned him away, because Draco was purposely not trying to antagonize him anymore.

_Just as well._ Harry thought, leaving the common room for the owlery. _We did tell Professor Flitwick that we'd use force if attacked again_.

Shiva nodded from where she moved alongside him down the stairs. _"The threat of retaliation should never become an empty promise."_

"I know." Harry answered, having heard that at least two dozen times since Hermione had been attacked. Not that he didn't believe it. He walked around almost on pins and needles any time he was outside his room, and even more so when there wasn't anyone else around.

Like now. Harry had come to know intimately the feeling of being on a hair trigger to use Command magic if something jumped out at him.

Thankfully though, the trip part way across the school towards the Gryffindor tower was quiet and Harry smiled at a few of his fellow students as he walked by them. Hermione's petrification didn't seem to be effecting the others very badly, but then again they didn't have Shiva paranoid.

Or, Harry thought to himself, a year and a half worth of proof that things did seem to be out to get him.

The owlery was closer to the Gryffindor tower than the Ravenclaw one, but was shared by all the students who either had owls for their own pets or needed the use of a school owl. Entering it, Harry saw that there were at least a couple of dozen other students already there, either taking care of their own owls or sending a letter.

Harry walked up to a little desk that had a single quill in an ink pot and an old bronze call bell, sitting in front of a perch. Harry dropped the unaddressed letter on the desk and picked up the quill. The charm on the desk would note who Harry wrote the letter to, and then hitting the bell would send a pulse of magic to the school owls. The postal charms on the owls drew energy from the person, family, or place they were tied to, and then pulled the traces of the magical signature of the person the letter was being written to, to give the owl direction.

Since the owls belonged to Hogwarts, anyone who had ever walked the halls had left enough of a trace of their magic to direct the owls. And for those few people that the school communicated with that had not visited, or Muggleborn students, that was the reason for the superbly detailed addresses.

Learning about the owl and the magic used to direct them still irritated Harry, considering the addresses his letters had had. Hopefully he wouldn't have to go back again this year.

But wards could and did confuse owls, masking signatures from being traced by the owls. Both the Flamels had warded their homes against unwanted mail.

So Harry wrote the address that would actually make it past the ward Nicholas had put up.

_To the husband of Perenelle Flamel_

_Home on the coast_

_France_

A simple misdirection, but one most people didn't think of. Mail directly to either of them would never find them.

Harry tapped the bell, a chime echoing through the owlery. A large eagle owl fluttered down from the rafters to land on the perch, it's large eyes staring at Harry.

The owl looked at Harry as he tied the letter to its leg, but didn't take off. "Well?" Harry asked it, and the owl just hooted.

"_Perenelle's ward, Harry."_ Shiva reminded him.

Harry winced. It'd taken some research once he got back to Hogwarts, but Harry had figured out why Perenelle used blood magic as her main magic. According to the history books, Nicholas Flamel had gone with Cortez to the Americas and had married an Aztec princess, sharing his immortality with her. Knowing what he did about their immortality, he knew it was slightly off but it did explain her use of blood.

Perenelle's blood ward required someone to be attuned to the ward and use their blood as the key for an owl to bypass it.

Harry looked over the desk, not finding anything to draw any blood. He then looked at the owl, before shaking his head. "Anyone have something sharp?" he asked.

He got a few strange looks from the other students and headshakes, but one of the older students, a Hufflepuff by his robes, gave him a more curious look. "Blood mail?" The boy asked.

Harry nodded.

"Huh, thought my da was the only one that paranoid." He pulled a little sewing needle from his sleeve where it was threaded, offering it to Harry. "I spell it clean every time."

"Thanks." Harry took it and poked his finger, wincing slightly as the blood welled up. He touched his finger to the letter and the claw of the owl, before sucking on the finger. "Ouch."

The owl took off without another requirement.

The Hufflepuff took the needle back, tapping it with his wand and the little blood left over vanished. "Who'd you write to? I'm here taking care of my owl almost daily and this is the first time I've seen you in here."

"People who really don't like to get mail." Harry grinned at the older boy. "I was told not to tell, and if I'd thought about it I would have brought something myslf."

"Alright, I get the hint, you can't tell."

Before their conversation could continue, a redhead stepped into the owlery. Harry thought he was a relative of the other redheads in Gryffindor, and he wore a prefect badge. He looked worried. "One of our first years has been petrified, along with Peeves, who he was apparently taking a picture of. The Headmaster is requiring all students to return to their dorms for a head count. Everyone back to their dorms, please."

Harry looked at the window where the owl with his letter was already gone, before sighing.

Shiva was looking around the owlery herself. _"No others from your House here. Let us return, but be on your guard."_

Harry nodded to her as Shiva walked out the room first, Harry behind her.

* * *

Ravenclaw's tower was full of students as Harry walked in, even though he could tell it wasn't the full house yet.

He grinned a bit as Luna came up to him, several sheets of parchment in hand. Since being introduced to Shiva, Luna had made friends with the Empress of Ice. Luna insisted on hearing her descriptions of how the world had been long ago, and the papers were Luna's documentation of it.

"Hello Harry, Shiva." The blond first year smiled at them. "Do you know why everyone came back to the common room?"

Harry nodded, even as Shiva turned to watch the door and who might be coming in.

"There was another attack that petrified someone." Harry shook his head. "And apparently, it got a ghost as well."

The smile fell from Luna's face and her eyes seemed to stare past Harry for a moment. "That's awful. Hermione yesterday, and now again?"

"_You make a good point, Luna."_ Shiva mentioned, looking back to the girl for a moment before back to the door once more. _"Whatever is causing this is attacking quickly now."_

Harry nodded in agreement with the aspect's words. "Which would be why they want everyone in their common rooms."

It only took another twenty minutes for the last of the students to make their way into the common room, with the very last few being accompanied by Professor Flitwick.

The diminutive Professor moved to the corner of the room and motioned with his wand to the wall. The stage seemed to pull out of the wall, lifting the Professor to visiblility.

"May I have your attention please?" The question was asked unnecessarily, as everyone was already watching their Head of House.

"We have had another student attacked, a first year in Gryffindor." Murmurs rose from the students. "Two attacks in two days, and no witnesses. A camera was at the scene of this attack, but the film was destroyed. If anyone knows anything about these attacks, step forward."

Flitwick watched as the students looked at each other and shrugged. "I had hoped someone might know something, but I wasn't expecting it. However, that is not the only announcement I have. Due to the two attacks, the Christmas Holidays are starting a week early. All students that have signed up to head home for the holiday, you will be leaving first thing in the morning for the Express."

A muted and only half-hearted cheer went up among the students. Of course getting out of school a week early was great, but at the cost of people being petrified wasn't something most were willing to pay.

"We are going to make the effort to send the rest of you home as well. Those of you who can't, we'll make sure you stay safe during the holidays while we find what is causing this."

"What about Hermione?" Harry spoke up. "She was going to go home for the hols."

"I am contacting Miss Granger's parents. Any other questions?" Flitwick looked around. A few more students piped up asking about leaving early, or contacting their parents before the Charms professor ended his announcement. "I would ask you all to stay in the common room or your dorms until morning. The house elves will bring dinner by."

* * *

The next morning, the vast majority of the student population of Hogwarts began their Christmas break early and headed for home.

Ravenclaw was left with only a couple dozen students, and the other houses with that or less as well. The professors kept them all under a fairly careful eye as day by day a few more students had their parents contacted and their plans to stay at Hogwarts cancelled.

By the next weekend, only a week from Christmas, Harry found himself nigh alone in Ravenclaw tower, only a single seventh year there to keep him company.

Sitting in the Great Hall that Saturday morning, Harry was able to count a single Gryffindor, three Hufflepuffs, and five Slytherin students still in the school. They were being watched over by the Head of House, just like Professor Flitwick had escorted his two Ravenclaws to breakfast.

Though the potions professor didn't seem to care too much when Draco with only one of his goons left the Great Hall.

The Headmaster stood from where he was sitting at the main table, lifting his wand. "This will not do, this will not do. It's nearly Christmas, and we need decorations up." The twinkle was in Dumbledore's eye as he waved his wand, a red streamer coming out of it and attaching to a wall.

The streamer flickered between red, green, silver, and gold at an odd rate. Staring at it too long gave Harry a headache.

"Come, come. Help me decorate. If you don't know how to conjure it, ask a professor." Dumbledore smiled at the few students, as the other professors there for breakfast gave the Headmaster humoring smiles, before pulling their own wands.

Shortly, the entire Hall was festooned with garland and ribbons and was much more cheerful. Harry smiled himself as under the eye of his Head of House conjured a glass ornament that hung itself from one of the loops of garland.

"Very good, Mr. Potter." Professor Flitwick nodded. "Depending on how much effort you put into it, it will likely fade in a day or two. However, I think the Headmaster is likely to extend the decorations until at least the new year."

Harry just nodded, feeling a little winded. Conjuring something intricate like the ornament was both a magical and mental strain.

He then started as an owl that had been in the rafters swooped down, landing in front of him. Shiva eyed it suspiciously. It hooted at Harry, holding out it's leg.

"A letter, for me?" Harry was confused. _Who would write me a letter? Definitely not Aunt Petunia._ Harry reached out, untying the letter from the spotted brown owl.

Harry recognized the flowing script with his name on it as Mr. Flamel's. Harry quickly tore the envelope, reading.

_Harry,_

_While I was interested to see your letter, I admit that the contents of it were not something I expected to see. I am happy that you think I may have the answer to every problem, but alas, I do not know of something that will mimic the exact effects of a mandrake restorative. Nightshade is too dangerous, and Wolfsbane too specific. However, I do have something that may work. Let your Headmaster know I will be coming before the new year._

_Perenelle wishes you a Merry Christmas as well._

_Nicholas_

Flitwick looked at his student, who had gone through a sad frown into a half grin. "Interesting letter?"

Harry looked up, his half grin fully forming. "Mr. Flamel says he may have something to help Hermione. He wants me to let the Headmaster know he's going to come before the new year."

Flitwick smiled back. "Now that is wonderful news, Mr. Potter."

* * *

It was the extremely early hours of the morning on Christmas morning when Harry jerked awake, nearly flinging himself out of his bed.

Shiva was already visible to his eyes, and the ice queen was spinning about the room trying to find what had awoken Harry so abruptly.

Harry shuddered as another wave hit him, the foul feeling of the magic stronger than the wave that had woken him. It seemed to crawl over him and then leave, but seemed to leave a residue that took a moment to fade.

Even Shiva shivered as the magic that bonded the two together was washed over.

"Uh." Harry made a face, almost feeling like he wanted to spit to get the taste out. "What in the world was that?"

"_I do not know. Dark, black magic. Do not leave this room."_ Shiva insisted. _"And you will summon me at the slightest provocation."_

Harry nodded, getting out of bed and moving to his desk, watching the door.

Half an hour passed and the adrenaline slowly worked its way out of Harry's body, but oddly it left him just aware instead of falling back asleep. Still, when there was a knock at his door and a call through it of "Mr. Potter, are you awake?" in Professors Flitwick's voice, Harry still had to bite his tongue from the new surge of adrenaline that had him nearly call down a bolt of lightning on the door.

"Yes sir." Harry called back, even as Shiva stepped through the door herself to verify the professor's identity. "What was that that happened a little while ago?"

There was a hesitation in the Charms professor's voice. "We're… not sure, Mr. Potter. We're doing a headcount on the students as the Headmaster is investigating it."

"Merry Christmas." Harry grumbled to himself, before speaking louder. "It was nasty, whatever it was. Do you want to come in?"

"No, not now that I know you're safe. Try to get a few more hours of sleep, Mr. Potter. Presents won't be delivered if you're awake." There was a forced laugh in the Head of House's voice as Harry heard him walk away.

Harry stood from his desk, walking over to the door. Drawing magic from his armlet, Harry twisted it around and quietly calling "Protego." His personal shield spell sprang into being, anchoring itself across the door, blocking it off.

"Wonder if I'll be able to sleep?"

Harry sat back in his bed, looking at the golden light of the shield spell. Shiva watched her summoner quietly.

It was still several hours before Harry could fall asleep.

* * *

Harry only had a couple hours of fitful sleep before waking once more, yawning and scrubbing his eyes. _"Good morning. A house elf brought by your gifts."_ Shiva's voice reached Harry and he looked over to his desk, where three small packages were wrapped.

"Nothing-" He yawned a bit "else happened after I passed out?"

Shiva shook her head quietly.

Harry walked over to his presents and looked at them. Quickly opening them, Harry smiled to see a tin of rock cakes from Hagrid and Firewing, a small charmed toy soldier that saluted him as he was unwrapped from Professor Flitwick, and a small bag of Bertie Bott's jellybeans from the Headmaster. Popping one in his mouth, he quickly spit it out. "Oh god, belly button fuzz flavor."

That actually got a slight giggle from Shiva, which earned her a stare. "I'm making you try these next time I summon you." Harry then stuck his tongue out at her.

Getting to his common room, Harry found Professor Flitwick awake and waiting for him. "Merry Christmas, Mr. Potter." His greeting was accompanied by a smile, but not much of one.

"You too, sir. Is everything okay?"

Flitwick shook his head. "I don't want to ruin your Christmas for you."

"Which tells me it would ruin my Christmas, and by not knowing I'll be even more on edge than I have been." Harry replied.

"One of your yearmates has disappeared." Flitwick answered him somberly after a moment. "A Slytherin boy, Vincent Crabbe."

Harry looked at the short professor. "Not…petrified?"

"No." Flitwick shook his head. "We'll take care of it, Mr. Potter. You do not need to involve yourself or your friend."

"_Only so long as you are not attacked. But the safety of this school disappears daily, Harry."_ Shiva noted.

Harry sighed his agreement as his professor walked him to breakfast.

Harry didn't see much of the other students, but breakfast had shown all the Slytherin students to be white faced and severely off, even Draco who refused to look at Harry, staring off into space instead, occasionally looking to the side where Crabbe had sat.

* * *

It was four nervous days before Professor Flitwick escorted Harry to the Hospital Wing where Nicholas was already at. Entering, Harry found that Nicholas was already chatting with both Madam Pomfrey and the Headmaster.

"It's very troubling." Nicholas was saying. "I hope one of them got a good look at their attacker." Nicholas then noticed Harry. "Ah, Harry. I wanted you to be here for your friend, to help calm her down."

Harry nodded. "She's going to be alright then?"

"More or less. This is not a permanent fix." Nicholas lifted a small vial up that had a weird looking green liquid. "What this particular elixir does is negate all external magics on its drinker. It should stop the effects of this petrification, though the elixir begins to wear off after a day, fully gone in three. Both your friend and this other boy," Nicholas waved at the Gryffindor frozen in his own bed, "Mr. Creevey here, will have to drink this elixir daily until the Mandrake restorative can be properly brewed."

"Thankfully they're still young, else they would be out of a lot of their school work." Madam Pomfrey said, eyeing the vial.

"Huh?" Was Harry's confused question.

"All external magics, Mr. Potter." The Headmaster answered. "Including the connection between wand and wielder. Until we can make a proper restorative, they'll have limited access to their own magic, sadly."

"Hermione's going to hate that." Harry agreed slowly. "But I think she'd hate playing Sleeping Beauty for the rest of the year more."

"And we're hoping to find out what attacked them." Nicholas added, holding the vial out to Pomprey. "Madam, it must be drunk, or failing that be absorbed through the stomach. If you would?"

The matron nodded, taking the vial. Tipping its contents in Hermione's open mouth, she touched the tip of her wand to Hermione's throat to coax the elixir down.

Everyone knew the moment it took effect on Hermione. "Aieeeeeeeeeeee!" He piercing shriek echoed in the Hospital Wing before Pomfrey could silence the girl.

Just as sudden, Hermione was quiet again but panicked, looking around and shivering.

"Calm down, Miss Granger. Everything is alright." Dumbledore put a hand on her shoulder. Hermione jerked for a moment, then took a deep breath. "Are you alright to have the silencing spell taken off of you now?"

Hermione nodded after a second's thought and then was released from her silence. "Please tell me you killed it! Please!"

"Unfortunately not, Miss Granger. We are unaware of what 'it' actually is." Flitwick spoke up.

"A huge, horrible snake! I was washing my hands and one of the sinks started breaking up. Myrtle screamed at me to run and she dove into her toilet." Hermione looked down at her hands. "I slipped in the water as I was running out. I got up, turned around and screamed when I saw it in the water's reflection. I didn't quite get a chance to look up before I was all of a sudden here."

"A basilisk?" Nicholas spoke after a moment of thought. "The reflection would taint the death magic in its eyes, yes. And no magical creature will eat something that their own magics don't work against right, for fear of ruining their own magic."

"Eat!" Squeaked Hermione.

Nicholas then looked over to the Headmaster. "I have more protections than you would against such a thing. I'll go find it, Albus, and whatever woke it up."

Dumbledore nodded slowly, eyes lost in thought and no twinkle to be seen. "Myrtle was likely killed by this, Nicholas. If it is the creature from Salazar's Chamber…"

"I'll be alright. A single beast isn't going to do me in." With that, Nicholas left the Hospital Wing.

As Madam Pomfrey was in the process of waking up the Gryffindor boy, Harry turned to the Headmaster. Voicing Shiva's questions for her, Harry asked the graybearded man. "What is a basilisk, and what Chamber, Headmaster?"

Dumbledore seemed to almost jerk out of his thoughts. "Mmm, a basilisk is a very dangerous creature. A snake born from a frog hatching a chicken egg. A natural rooster's crow slays it."

Harry interrupted. "Which explains Hagrid's chickens getting killed. We thought it was something hunting from the forest before the winter."

Dumbledore nodded. "Most likely, though roosters have a natural instinct to crow at the sight of aggressive creatures, to try to drive them off."

"The Chamber?" Hermione prompted, her eyes begging for something to keep her mind occupied.

"Salazar's Chamber of Secrets. When he was driven out of Hogwarts, he proclaimed he'd left his own form of protection in the school to keep it safe, even if the others didn't agree with his methods. Fifty years ago, it was assumed open when Myrtle died. She never got a good look at what killed her, and wouldn't speak of it much either." The old wizard shook his head. "I should have pushed her more about it."

"But that is in the past, and we can only do better in the future." Dumbledore smiled at Hermione. "And trust me, Nicholas is very careful in his doings. He-"

Dumbledore was cut off as a flash of fire appeared over one of the beds. Fawkes appeared, his talons gripped the still form of Nicholas Flamel. "-is dead!"

Fawkes seemed to glow with an inner light as he sung a mournful song. Tears of pure fire leaked down the phoenix's face, coating the head of Nicholas Flamel, but doing no damage.

Woven into the song, Harry could hear the voice of Phoenix. "_[It is time to repay the favor owed, human.]"_

* * *

A/N: So, we're at the end of the chapter. And things are severely heating up. Nicholas has been killed by something, likely the basilisk. And Phoenix is calling in the favor owed from when he helped rescue Harry. I'm dying to hear what you think, so please Read and Review.


	27. To Fight, Perchance to Survive

A/N: Lots of stuff happens here. This chapter is where we lose the rails of canon completely, so I do apologize for taking another month to get it to you. I'm having to very carefully plot out my story from here, and next chapter will likely be the last, before I go on to the sequel.

A/N2: The latter half of this chapter has a themesong. When Harry goes into the Chamber proper, go to this link. bit . ly / A1eDvZ

* * *

It was too much to take in at once, as Harry stared. How had Nicholas died? A mental and semi-physical nudge from Shiva brought him back on track, and he stared at the solemnly singing Fawkes, even as tears of fire continued to pour from the Esper of Phoenix.

Pulling a touch of magic from his core, he touched the Phoenix materia in his armlet. _Alright, I guess. What happened to Nicholas though?_

There was a solemn note to Pheonix's mental voice in Harry's head as well. _"[Nicholas went into battle with my protection. However, the life magics he wielded as a Summoner could only protect from one type of death magic at once. My Esper did not get to him in time to absorb the second attack.]"_ Harry frowned. _"[My favor is two-fold. You must return the materia to Nicholas. The one known as Albus has accepted a favor owed as well to bind my Esper as his familiar. Albus will pay his favor back with his own magic, for Fawkes holds onto the soul of Nicholas, but requires a catalyst to overcome the death magic staining the physical body.]"_

"So he's not fully dead." Harry grinned, and every head whipped around to stare at him.

"_I will have to be summoned to remove the materia, Harry. I do not think you have the control required to remove a single materia, instead of them both." _Shiva interrupted the mental conversation.

Fawkes song took on a note of hope, lifting the hearts of those that heard the song. Dumbledore turned back to the firebird, a quizzical look on his own face as he looked at the still dead Nicholas.

"_[You will likely be required for the second part of the favor. Nicholas' death nearly broke the contract between us. Whatever killed him, you will kill in his stead.]"_

Harry's eyes grew large, even as Shiva barged into the mental conversation once more. _"You want him to kill something that killed a Master Summoner, someone with six hundred years of experience with the magics of this time? I hate to admit that I do not have my full power, but as I am now I do not know if I can overcome something like that."_

Fawkes' song took on a warning note, but none but Harry seemed to hear it. _"[It was a bargain without limits, Shiva. You know what I can demand should he not.]"_

_I didn't say I wouldn't, damn it._ Harry barged right back into the conversation between the two Aspects. Pulling on his magic, Harry nearly slammed it into Shiva's materia causing her image to waver and fade as he spoke in a roar. _"[Shiva of Ice and Snow. I call you forth to help fulfill a bargain. Magic I offer to form the body, for we go to battle!]"_

Only a few ice crystals swirled this time, but their shattering was much more explosive than Harry had ever seen. The little fragments didn't hit a single person, but shredded the nearby empty beds and curtains.

Shiva stood motionless in the Hospital Wing for a moment, before nodding. Stepping up to Harry, he offered his arm to her.

Harry felt her magic surround the armlet and then creep from her materia itself over to Pheonix's. It seemed to creep into invisible spaces between materia and armlet, and as Shiva pull her hand back, Phoenix's materia was in her hand. She held it out to Harry.

"Thank you." Harry whispered back to her, and then turned to the silently watching group.

Albus looked at the gem in Harry's hand and then to Nicholas, nodding. "Fawkes spoke to me, I know my part Harry. You're part in this is over."

Hermione looked between them, confused, as did the others in the room. As Harry placed the materia on Nicholas' chest, not trusting the tears of flame, even if they didn't seem to be burning anything.

As Harry watched the Headmaster muster himself up with wand drawn, he frowned. "Doesn't it only require half your magic to summon?" He asked quietly.

"Not for what he is doing. Your Headmaster is not summoning an Esper, as Fawkes already exists. Instead, he is calling upon the true power of the Aspect of Life." Shiva answered him easily. "If he does not have the magic to empower the call, it will become an exchange of lives."

"What!" Flitwick spun, staring at the Ice Queen.

"How long does your kind normally live? Bringing Nicholas back will require overcoming the death that killed him, and the years that crashed down upon his body at that death. Only the fact that Phoenix holds his soul makes this possible at all, as natural death puts a soul in the realm of Hades."

"I'll help." Flitwick pulled his own wand, coming to stand next to Dumbledore.

Shiva put her hand on Harry's shoulder before he could offer his own words. "You have your own duty to perform, after this." Harry slumped slightly, but he did not argue.

No one spoke for a moment, as Albus placed his wand on the materia. Flitwick's wand touched the back of the Headmaster's.

Fawkes' tears of fire stopped, and the phoenix met the eyes of his wizard.

"Fawkes." The air crackled as the Headmaster seemed to summon the full power of his magic, the air warming between the two. "Rebirth by Flame."

Three simple words. And Fawkes immolated, turning into liquid flame that spread out across the bed, surrounding Dumbledore and Flitwick. Madam Pomfrey gasped, pulling her own wand only for Shiva to put her hand between the two.

"Attempt to put the fire out, and you will doom all three."

Pomfrey didn't have much choice, as the fire outlined the shape of Phoenix and then filled in with fire, blazing hot enough that things should have caught fire but somehow didn't. Magic took shape inside the fire, pulled from both the Headmaster and Flitwick, building up into a crescendo.

The body of Nicholas Flamel arched, and Professor Flitwick slumped, his wand falling away from Dumbledore's. The flames built higher, nearly touching the ceiling before twisting in on itself and turning solid. A huge phoenix, only slightly looking like Fawkes in appearance, hovered above the three forms at the hospital bed.

A wave of warm air washed through the room, invigorating everyone who it touched, like the pure essence of phoenix song.

Then the phoenix vanished, leaving behind a baby chick of Fawkes. The Headmaster slid to the ground, breathing heavily.

Pomfrey rushed the group, her wand already in the motion for a diagnosis, with the others only a few steps behind her.

"Ha-Harry." Nicholas coughed, weak eyes looking up from the bed where only a moment ago, his body had been dead. "Watch o-out, blond-" Nicholas' eyes closed once more.

Madam Pomfrey immediately waved her wand over him, a grey puff of smoke appearing for a moment. "He's slipped into unconsciousness. Quite frankly, I don't know how he's even alive." The baby Fawkes chirped, a warbling note all he could manage at the moment. Pomfrey shook her head at the phoenix. "We'd be having words, you and I, if you spoke the Queen's English."

Harry smiled at that, but it was interrupted by Shiva. "It is time now." Harry swallowed and nodded.

"Wait, what? I'm missing something." Hermione interrupted from her own bed, where she looked to be trying to piece together what had just happened.

Harry shook his head. "I'll be back." _I hope._ Harry added mentally.

"Harry?" Several voices asked, but he had already walked out of the room. A soft moan of pain from the Headmaster pulled attention away from the now gone Ravenclaw.

* * *

"We're not charging in, right? Whatever got Mr. Flamel, I don't think I want to fight them head on." Harry said once he and Shiva were a few steps from the Hospital Wing.

"Not charging in, no. But directly confronting, yes. We know where the attacker is, and they should not be expecting someone to come deal with them so soon after Flamel's death." Shiva said. "I will be going first, however. I can take more damage and inflict it faster than you can." Ice crystals formed on the tips of Shiva's fingers as she held her hand up.

"This has about as much forethought as a rampaging bull." Harry sighed, shoulders slumping a bit. "I think if the Sorting Hat had sorted you, you would have gone to Gryffindor, Shiva."

Shiva gave a short, solemn chuckle before settling into quiet once more, the walk towards the restroom where Hermione had been devoid of students and teachers. The thought of at least there weren't more people in the castle to be attacked right now flitted through Harry's head.

Coming close to the restroom, both Harry and Shiva stopped. Harry's eyes at least were wide, as he took in the almost literally exploded wall, stone rubble strewn about as if they were children's blocks. "Good Lord..." Harry breathed out.

The temperature around Shiva dropped several degrees as she stepped forward through the broken stone with Harry following behind, leaving enough space for the aspect of ice to move if she needed to. Harry heard her whisper of "Hastega" and felt the magic enhance his own reflexes and reactions as they walked forward.

Once she'd gotten past the broken wall into the oddly large restroom, Harry saw her pause before he could follow. Her hands were up, as if ready to cast, but a confused look was on her face. "The idiot?"

Harry stepped around Shiva making sure to keep his eyes forward as he moved into view as well, and to make sure he wasn't blocking Shiva's line of sight either.

Standing in the middle of all the destruction stood Gilderoy Lockhart, his usually immaculate clothing ripped and disgusting looking, and scratches all over his visible skin. In his hand was a wand, held loosely as he stared at the two of them as well in slight confusion. Harry noticed a silver tiara threaded through the had-been-lost DADA professor's hair. "Professor Lockhart?"

"I had expected Dumbledore, honestly." Lockhart spoke, his voice distant. "Honestly, I collected power from idiot students for forty years before ending up in this position. I helped kill the alchemist, and would have found that damn stone on him had the stupid bird not snatched him away."

"Blizzaga!" Shiva nearly screamed at that, stygian cold ice and snow momentarily obscuring the prattling man, cutting him off.

The icy storm vanished a moment later, leaving Lockhart standing there, a haughty look on his face as certain parts of his skin glowed. "I wasn't finished." Shiva had a look of disbelief on her face, and Harry felt worried. "Now, as I was saying, from what I learned of last year, I was still prepared to eventually handle you."

Harry put two and two together quickly. "Voldemort. You stole another body?" Harry cursed his atrocious luck, even as he pulled magic from his core.

"Another body? No, this is _my_ first body." Lockhart had a nasty grin on his face as his wand snapped forward. A pulse of blood red light flared from it, streaking towards Shiva. A barrier of ice snapped into being between her hands, shattering under the spell's impact but absorbing the entirety of the magic as well. "Interesting. I had thought you could only attack. Though you are lucky, most of the magic I absorbed here is no longer accessible by myself, otherwise I would have destroyed that shield and you."

Harry recalled what had happened to Professor Quirrell last year and sighed mentally. There wouldn't be any way to save this teacher either. Forming the magic inside him, Harry Commanded as well, seeing as how Shiva was momentarily stymied at her powerful ice magics failing her. "Boltaga!"

The power of the worst thunderstorms formed and struck at the stolen body, but again parts of Lockhart's body flared and the magic did nothing. Harry noticed the flares of power seemed to be coming from the different scratches on his body.

"Command of that creature gives you access to all those magics, Potter?" Lockhart asked, his voice finally shifting deeper and his eyes lighting from within, turning red. Voldemort peeking through fully. "I will enjoy tearing knowledge of those magics from her, after I dispose of your body. It appears that runeing this body impervious to all the elements was worthwhile. Sadly, all the magic you use is fully invoked into your spells. I could always use additional magic."

Harry was suddenly shoved aside, Shiva pushing him out of the way before he could react even under the Haste's magic, as six different spells passed through the spot his body had occupied a moment before. Harry then registered the twitching of Lockhart's wand, where the spells had originated from.

"No one is completely immune to the elements." Shiva almost hissed, her voice blowing cold around the room. "Harry, fire. Overwhelm him."

Harry had given half his magic to summon Shiva only a short while ago, and high level magics such as this were fairly draining on his remaining reserves. However, he responded instantly anyways. "Firaga!"

"Absolute Zero."

Only due to the properties of magic did the two spells not try to snuff each other out, instead even as Shiva's magic froze the air around Lockhart and causing blood to freeze, the essence of the heart of a volcano attempted to melt the skin from the same body that was freezing in place.

Harry felt the strain of holding the magic alive longer than normal, to match Shiva's own spell. Letting it fade at the same time as the air warmed, Harry blinked as Lockhart stood there, his skin glowing in many more visible places.

Mostly because his clothes were almost completely destroyed, and Lockhart was holding the stump of a wand. But his body was unharmed still.

"Lockhart's soul powers the runes on this body. There is not a level of magic you can wield that can destroy a soul." Voldemort laughed. "And the loss of the wand doesn't impede me, either."

The spells that flew from the possessed body of Lockhart looked weaker now, but were quicker for all that. Harry was watching this time, and ducked, returning fire with his own magic even as Shiva formed and attempted to spear him with a lance of ice which shattered against his body. "Formed of magic, and you expected that to work against me?"

"Toad!" Harry yelled, trying to force Lockhart into another form. For a moment, it appeared to work as Lockhart vanished to be replaced by a small toad, only to quickly pop back.

"Even more interesting, transformative magic that bypassed my defenses. I am still a master of wandless magic, Potter, and can end such magics on myself." Voldemort had a sinister smile on his face. "You are actually more of a danger than this creature, considering she casts nothing but ice elemental magics."

Lockhart's head snapped back, and he stumbled backwards. Shiva's fist occupied the place Lockhart's head had, although she grabbed it, holding her wrist. The runes on Lockhart's body glowed for a moment.

"Hmm, even your body is considered a magical construct of ice?" Voldemort mused, seemingly not perturbed over the physical violence. "I see, then you have no fear of destruction, since you can just be rebuilt. Perhaps you are the more dangerous. And I have just the spell to deal with your ice."

Shiva backed up, and Harry watched. He knew he didn't have the physical strength to overcome the older wizard, and apparently Shiva couldn't even stay in physical contact without hurting herself as well. This wasn't turning out well.

Shiva's eyes shifted beyond Lockhart's controlled body, to a deep hole that went into the castle. "That magic!"

"Pay attention now." Voldemort in Lockhart's body called. Harry's eyes had never wandered from Voldemort, and Shiva's own cut back as liquid flame seemed to drip from his open hands, building quickly to a monstrous snake made of fire. "Fiendfyre. Now, away with you!"

The snake dove at Shiva, fangs dripping molten fire. Steam rose as ice shields that Shiva tried to call up melted before even forming. Harry dove out of the way, even as he heard Shiva's scream of magic, commanding her strongest ice magic that wasn't tied to the Thone. "Absolute Zero!"

The fiendfyre snake swallowed Shiva, icy magic and all. Before Voldemort could even open his mouth to gloat, the snake shivered and all its flames snuffed out. Shiva stood there shakily, before vanishing.

_I spent all my magic destroying that construct, it was too close to Ifrit's fire for my well being. You must kill him now, before he can create the thing again!_ Shiva's voice was steady in Harry's mind.

Harry stumbled back to his feet, looking over at Voldemort in Lockhart's body. The man looked amused. "And with only a second year's education and your elemental magics useless against me, I think I could be persuaded to make your death a quick one, Potter."

_How do I kill him then?_ Harry shouted into his own mind, back at Shiva.

_Flare. Concentrate on pure energy, and cast Flare. It isn't elemental._ She replied. _I would not have thought of dragon magic, had I not sensed where that tunnel led._

Harry concentrated, and Voldemort paused. "Oh, are you going to try again? You're choosing the slow, lingering death then, Potter."

It was the cost of almost all of his remaining magic to form this particular Command spell, even though Harry could feel it wasn't even as draining on him as the –aga elemental magics.

The air around Lockhart's body seemed to crackle. "Fire again, Potter?"

The energy in the air built in a split second, until the air itself altered into almost pure energy before exploding.

Harry slumped to the ground as Lockhart's body fell, shattered. The silver tiara fell off his head, broken in three pieces.

Shiva was quiet for a long moment as Harry caught his breath. _Are you able to continue? The snake will be a stupid beast without a guide. Well placed magic will destroy it. And even though he is no longer here, I would think Bahamut would not want such a creature in his throne._

_...What?_ Harry's jumbled thought went back to her.

_That is what I sensed months before, and just now. The Tri-Throne of Bahamut lies beyond that tunnel. The basilisk creature must be hiding there._

Harry's mind went blank at that.

_Harry?_ Shiva's voice was actually hesitant.

Harry just sat there for a moment, thoughts flitting through his head, not making any real connections. Finally, he shook himself. "Why in the world would that be here?"

_I do not know. But we should continue. Perhaps we can learn that while you are there._

Harry stumbled to his feet, the few minutes he'd been sitting not nearly enough time to rest or regain any spent magic. "I can only hope that it's going to be easy. I only think I could pull off maybe two more Flare magics, Shiva. Thankfully they're not as draining as a Firaga or one of those."

_More than adequate, against a single beast._

Harry looked down the tunnel, trying not to look at the broken body of the Defense professor off to one side. The tunnel actually looked like a pipe leading downwards. Picking up a piece of rubble, Harry tossed it, listening as it bounced off the tunnel for quite a while, before the sound faded and stopped. "Looks like it's not a straight drop then." Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

Sitting down once more, Harry slowly scooted over towards the pipe edge. As he got close, the already cracked stone floor shattered under even his light weight, and Harry slipped down the pipe. "Whoooaaaa!"

The tunnel twisted and turned and several times Harry felt like he was going to slip off the pipe edge. He had only a moment to be thankful that his robes were keeping his skin from being pulled off by the only semi moist wall of the pipe before he tumbled out, landing in a heap.

_Are you alright, Harry?_ Shiva asked him.

"Bruised." Harry said quietly, as he checked himself over. Standing, Harry was somewhat surprised to see the magical torches that gave Hogwarts its light down here as well. Though the area seemed to be more of a cave than manmade. Ahead was a set of great doors, almost the size of the entrance doors to the school. Designed into them was a snake motif. One door was open already.

"You know, if Lockhart was being controlled by Voldemort, how the hell did he get back up this pipe?" Harry wondered aloud. He got no answer. "Don't even have Phoenix's materia to ask for another pickup."

Cautiously, Harry went forward through the door. The doors appeared to block off yet another tunnel, and Harry sighed as he walked it. "Jeeze, why put a door up between two tunnels?" _No, I'm not trying to keep my own spirits up._ Harry sarcastically thought to himself.

Thirty or so feet beyond the door, he stopped, coming across something. Reaching down and slowly touching it, Harry's eyes went wide. "Holy hell, this is snake skin. Really, stupidly big snake skin." Pulling on the skin slightly, Harry was a little frightened at how long it pulled out to. From where it was, it pulled out beyond the door. "What the hell does this thing eat to grow this big?"

_Use extreme caution, Harry. Commanding Flare will still kill if you strike its head, but a serpent this large may be quick as well._

"Just what I needed." Harry whispered before abandoning the snake skin.

Beyond the skin down the tunnel even further it opened up into a huge cavern, walls rising into darkness above and columns laid out in straight rows. Snakes were again a large part the decorations here. A huge head of someone was on the far wall, and Harry could see someone sitting near it, watching him. As he walked up, Harry's heart dropped.

"Draco."

_Harry..._

_I know._

"Potter? You killed Lockhart?" Draco seemed surprised. The blond Slytherin stood with ease. "Then I guess I must welcome you to the Chamber of Secrets, Salazar Slytherin's home here in Hogwarts."

"You're not really Draco, are you?" Harry sighed.

A smirk appeared on the boy's face. "Oh, I'd said a portion of this body still is. Draco happened upon an artifact near the beginning of the school year, and in trade for sharing his body, he was given some of my power, my very soul. Recently, I became the primary soul in this body however, and poor Draco is just a crying voice in the back of my mind, slowly withering away."

"Damn it, how many people can you control, Voldemort?" Harry snapped and Draco's eyes widened, apparently he hadn't expected for Harry to make that connection so quickly. "Look, your stolen body died last year. Professor Lockhart is dead. Give up on Draco, and you might actually get away right now."

"There isn't enough left of Draco Malfoy to return to life, Potter." Draco spit. "And you are weak! I can feel how much magic you expended battling the other part of me. I can kill you now, without any effort! I can-"

"Flare." Harry's word was dead, as he poured his magic into the Command. He didn't want to kill Draco, but apparently he was already dead. Perhaps his yearmate had wanted to make amends there on the train. But he'd been lost to Voldemort afterwards.

The air around Draco's body absorbed the magic, and Harry could almost feel the very molecules of the air energize, turning from gas to some other state, before becoming unstable and exploding.

The spell created its own smoke and Harry watched as it faded, expecting to see Draco's body fall, if it still existed.

The fact that Voldemort in Draco's body stood there when the smoke cleared, a green energy fading from around his body, worried Harry. Greatly.

"So that was what you used against Lockhart. Powerful, Potter. But here in Salazar's Chamber of Secrets, with the drained power of forty years of Hogwarts students at my beck and call, I am invincible!" Draco purposely turned his back on Harry, facing the statue. "Let me show you the power of Slytherin, as only his Heir can! _Speak to me, Salazar Slytherin, Greatest of the Hogwarts Four!" _The voice that came from Draco was a hiss, Parseltongue required to command, apparently.

_Harry, I would strongly advise you to retreat._ Shiva's voice urged Harry as the mouth of the stone face opened wide. Harry could hear a large amount of movement, scales sliding against stone.

"_Come forth and do my bidding, familiar of Salazar. Slay Harry Potter!"_ Draco, no Voldemort, commanded. Harry then saw movement and averted his eyes, recalling what he had been told of the basilisk.

_I can't, Shiva. I don't know how to get out, and it's not a damned simple beast!_ Harry took several quick steps back, and then yelled out himself, his voice coming out a roar as he spoke to the snake. _"[Go away, I am not your prey!]"_

"What was that, Potter? It was not Parseltongue..." Voldemort questioned, even as the basilisk answered.

"_Though you speak as him, you are not. Bound as I am, I obey the lineage of magic that binds me. For allowing me to hear his voice once more, your death shall be quick. Meet my eyes and it will all be over."_

Harry felt a thrill of fear run through him that was not his own. _You must run, Harry. Somehow Voldemort resists Command magic and can attack you. You cannot hold out against both!_

Harry shook his head. He was here, and he had been pushed here by Phoenix. He didn't know what the price was for failing his payment back to the Aspect of Life, but he could guess it would be something like death. So it was fight now, or retreat and die either way. He might have retreated anyways, but he still didn't know how to get back up the pipe quickly. He would be caught.

"You will die, Potter, and I will take your armlet. I have a feeling it is how you control that creature you summoned, and it will be mine."

Harry saw the body of the snake move, and he dove out of the way, rolling behind a pillar. Turning a bit, he saw the back of the snake where its dive had driven it into the stone. It might be the only chance he had, to destroy its head while not looking into his eyes. "**Flare!**" Harry pushed the last of his magic into the Command, energy building up and exploding on the basilisk. When the smoke cleared, Harry could see scales had been ripped off and some flesh dangled from it. But the snake still moved.

"_And the least of his magics. You shall be remembered, mortal boy."_

"I will have that power, magic that can even overcome the innate resistance of a thousand year old basilisk. The legacy of Slytherin shall be unending! _Kill him!"_

_Fuck._

Harry ran, shouting a roar over his shoulder at the snake. _"[I'd rather not die, how can I break your bindings?]"_

Harry dove behind another column as he heard the snake strike and answer at the same time. "_Only he could break it, and he is no more. There is nothing you can do, save let me end your life."_

_The basilisk is speaking of Bahamut, Harry!_ Shiva's voice echoed through Harry's harried mind. _Without his protection, something must have bound the serpent to a new master. There is nothing you can do to break it, you must escape!_

"I can't." Harry whispered to himself. "And I don't even have enough magic to fight back now."

Harry stepped from around the column, facing the snake, but not meeting its gaze. "_You accede to your death then, mortal boy?"_

The vague beginnings of a very, very insane and stupid plan were forming in his head, even as he shook his head no to the basilisk. Several memories from the past two years clicking together into one desperate chance. Beyond, Voldemort watched with glee, thinking Harry was giving himself up.

Harry very carefully ensured he was speaking in the Dragon's Voice when he spoke. _"[He is Bahamut, isn't he?"]_ Naming him had an effect on the basilisk. It drew back, almost in surprise. _"[But the Throne is empty.]"_ Even without meeting its eyes, Harry could see that it was hesitating because Harry knew something.

"You call this the Chamber of Secrets, Voldemort." Harry yelled out. "But you do not know its greatest secret."

"And you do? Impossible, boy. Salazar created this Chamber, and I know everything Salazar did here. You only learned of this Chamber today." Voldemort laughed. "_Kill him now, do not offer him another chance to die gracefully. He has spurned your offer twice now."_

"Ah, but I do. This was something before Slytherin." Harry saw the body of the basilisk tense for the strike, and he spoke. _"[I am Harry James Potter, and I stand before the Tri-Throne of Bahamut, King of Dragons!]"_

There was an unsubtle shifting of power in the Chamber, something that shook the three beings there to the core at Harry's call. The basilisk held back it's strike once more.

That power radiated outwards, energy shifting as it passed beyond the walls of Hogwarts.

* * *

Outside Hogwarts, the wave of magic released from the Tri-Throne passed invisibly and nearly unnoticed, carrying Harry's words with it.

In a manbuilt cave a young dragon lay. Less than two years old, the Chinese Fireball heard the words spoken and knew who spoke them. The dragonling pulled himself from his slumber, walking to the mouth of the cave, staring at Hogwarts.

* * *

_Harry, do not do what I think you are about to!_ If Shiva's voice held fear for Harry before, now it was naked terror over what she thought the young wizard was about to do.

Harry grimly pressed forward. He had nothing left, he would live or die by his next words. And really, he figured that there wasn't much chance of living, but it was possible. _"[I find the Tri-Throne empty. I speak with Bahamut's voice, the Dragon's Voice! Through that which only Bahamut had, I Claim the Tri-Throne and ascend to its power!]"_ Harry's roar shook the entire Chamber.

Harry felt something strike the core of his magic. An enormous power filled him, coursing through him. It dropped him to his knees as foreign magic pulsed against the gem in his own soul that formed the core of his magic. The magic bled through his core and Harry felt his body almost screaming as it filled him with the power of Bahamut's throne, seeking something inside him.

The face of Salazar Slytherin cracked, and Voldemort spun to look at it. Before he could say a word, the face shattered into dust.

"_You have no subjects, so you are no King. You have no bloodline, so you are no Prince. I will not bow before a false claimant!" _The basilisk hissed out.

Harry felt his magic, the gem that always reminded him of Shiva's own materia, shatter. Harry barely had the breath to scream, but the echo of Shiva's scream of pain and loss as their connection was shattered as well sufficed.

The basilisk struck.

* * *

Firewing, despite his young age, knew the question posed by the magic that had woken him. His own young roar responded in instinct to the one who had helped raise him from the egg, along with his man-momma. _"[I will serve, and place myself under you. You are Bahamut, King of Dragons!]"_

* * *

The shards of his own magic rent his soul, and Harry could not even move as the basilisk removed the dozen feet between them. Had he had the strength, Harry would have looked up to meet the basilisk's eyes just to end his pain.

And then the echoing roar of Firewing's oath touched him and Harry felt those same shards fade completely. Magic reformed in his soul along with the connection to Shiva, but he had no time to rejoice. Something else had come along with the magic, a foreign mind that seemed an echo of his own. It shoved Harry out of the way, taking control of him.

Harry looked up, meeting the eyes of the basilisk. Magic connected between them, a death magic that attempted to shatter his own core once more. But it was rebuffed as too weak.

"_[Away, Guardian!]"_ Harry felt the other mind in him draw heavily on his magic, using it as a portal to something else. A torrent of magic entered him again, dammed only by the strength of the other. With a dragon's roar in both his mind and voice that shook the chamber, magic slammed against the striking basilisk. Harry's body screamed in pain as magic more potent than anything he had ever felt before went through his mortal frame. _**"[FLARE!"]**_

The basilisk flew backwards, and Harry could feel the satisfaction of the echo and could actually sense that the spine of the basilisk had been shattered as it struck against the far wall, it's body torn up as well.

Voldemort only now was turning back and saw the thrown back basilisk, in shock as it died. "How, what?"

Harry felt his body move even against the incredible pain it was being put through, having that much magic from the throne coursing through him. _"[Are you ready to die?]"_

Harry felt a buildup of even more magic in his body once more and could only mentally scream. Shiva through their remade connection seemed to latch onto him, to try to shield him from it. Magic started to visibly pour from his body.

The body of Draco had a look of fear. "I am the magical Heir of Slytherin. By rights of magic, I demand passage through the castle wards!" Draco's eyes turned red, and Harry could sense an incredible amount of magic wrap itself around him. An enormous crack was heard as the magic was expended to take Draco away from the Chamber of Secrets. From the Tri-Throne of the King of Dragons.

From Harry's Throne.

The other mind in Harry relinquished control, and Harry fell to the ground as the magic of the Throne bled back to where it had come from.

As his face slapped hard against the stone, Harry blacked out, happy to have survived.

* * *

A/N: So, we come to the end of the Chamber of Secrets. Dracomort has escaped, and Harry has somehow now claimed the Throne of Bahamut, but not without his own issues.

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	28. Having taken the first step

A/N: And so we come to the end, at a major turning point in Harry's life. Things have changed for our hero, haven't they?

Read and Review. I'd like to see if we can break a thousand reviews for this story.

* * *

Consciousness came back to Harry in a rush, the last few moments of his prior awareness stark in his mind. Groaning, Harry rolled over onto his back, a hand coming up to rub his face. There were a couple of tender spots, but thankfully falling on his face hadn't broken his nose or anything.

"_After an insane stunt like that, are you feeling alright, Harry?"_ Shiva asked, and Harry realized that she must have manifested again. There was a slight quaver to her voice as she spoke.

Cracking his eyes open, the lighting of the room illuminated the form of Shiva sitting near him, her eyes on him with worry. Harry gave her a weak grin, wincing as it pulled at a bruise. "I've been better, but alive is better than dead, right?" It struck Harry oddly that she was sitting. It was the first time he could recall that she had.

"_Yes."_ Her voice sounded amused at that, and Harry watched her gesture to behind him. Harry pulled himself into a sitting position, careful as various muscles and bones seemed to almost creak in protest. He then looked where Shiva had pointed.

"Holy fuck!" Harry yelped. Standing a few feet away from Harry, staring at the two of them with a forlorn and put upon look on his face, was a very translucent Draco Malfoy. Harry jumped to his feet and something in his mind reared up. Harry felt magic stream into him, pain driving him to his knees once more.

"I'm dead, Potter. Don't kill yourself over me." Draco stated, even as he took a step back.

Shiva put her hand on Harry's shoulder. _"Please calm down, Harry. He hasn't done anything for the past few hours."_ The worry in her voice over him was easily audible.

The power drained away once more, and Harry felt whatever it was rescind back into his mind. It left him feeling off balance a bit. "That... hurt like hell." He panted, before slowly straightening out once more. He looked at Draco once more, taking him in. "What the hell happened?" He asked, not sure if he was asking Shiva or Draco.

Shiva was the one to answer. _"Voldemort fled when it appeared you were about to destroy him after destroying the snake."_ Said snake still lay against the far wall, motionless and dead.

Apparently, the ghostly version of Draco could both see and hear Shiva, as he answered after her. "I'm not an Heir, so the wards of the school didn't allow me to pass." Draco sighed. "Looking at it though, it might have saved me. I could feel myself disappearing. I didn't think I had given that much up, and then I was suddenly no longer in control."

Harry gave the ghost a long stare, before finally shaking his head. "That's going to be a hell of a story, Draco." Taking a few tender steps and wincing at the reminders of his recent fights, Harry continued. "First though, how the hell do I get out of here?"

Draco shrugged to that. "The normal means of leaving is dead. I would always ride the basilisk back up the main pipe." He hesitated. "I think I could possibly float up there and find Dumbledore."

"I doubt he's up to it right now." Harry shook his head. "He and Professor Flitwick resurrected Mr. Flamel a few hours ago now, I guess." Harry pointed to where the statue of Slytherin's face had been. Now it appeared to be a huge gaping hole, easily large enough to allow something twenty or thirty feet high to pass through. It extended further in, the light from the chamber illuminating it part way. "You know where that goes, Draco? Shiva?"

Shiva shook her head. "It was the lair of the basilisk. I never went there when I was in control, and Voldemort didn't either." Draco responded, shaking a bit at the recent memories. "Merlin, what a fool." He whispered to himself.

"I guess that's as good a place as any to start then." Harry's walk had a bit of a limp to it as he passed through the opening. The other side had muted lights as well, and it appeared to be a second, very large chamber. This one had no snake motif though, instead it only had a huge raised dais in the center of the room, three steps up to it, each almost as tall as Harry himself. As Harry walked into the chamber, a subtle energy seemed to radiate through it and him. Harry stood a little taller and the pains of his battles faded.

Shiva gave Harry a half smile, shaking her head. _"This is your Throne, Harry."_

"Not much of a throne, Potter." Even dead and with his body stolen, Draco still took the moment to snark at Harry.

Harry climbed onto the first step, and turned back to face Draco. "It's still my throne, Draco. You don't seem to have one." Standing on the step, Harry could feel the energy of the area swirling around him, almost beckoning him to use it. Harry reached out his hand, grabbing at it only for it to slip through his fingers.

Recalling the feeling from before, Harry imagined the gem of his magic once more, and pulled through that, trying for a small amount of the magic of the throne. Immediately though, a torrent of magical power flooded the room from Harry's body, nearly driving the young man back to his knees. Reflexively, Harry let go of the magic and it seemed to whiplash back, letting him go as well.

"_Harry?"_ Shiva asked, worried.

Harry ignored the question, trying to stay on his feet. In his mind, he could feel something else, the echo of himself, watching. _You withstood it before, why don't you help now?_ Harry thought towards it.

He received no answer.

"Damn, it's either everything or nothing." Harry looked up to the worried face of Shiva, and the smirk from Draco. "I'm alright." Harry hopped down from the step.

"A pity." Draco drawled. "I was hoping I wouldn't be the only ghost by the time you got out of here, Potter."

Shiva attempted to smack Draco upside the head, only to find that in her ethereal state she couldn't affect even ghosts. _"Were you not saying that it was only thanks to Harry your soul even survived, child?"_

Draco shrugged, before moving on, walking yet his movements did not quite match his gait.

Shiva moved closer to Harry, watching as he stared at the dais. _"Harry?"_

Harry turned and stared at Shiva for a long moment. "I can always come back here once we find a way out, right?" He nodded to himself before Shiva could answer. "Alright, let's go."

Harry seemed to marshal himself before walking next to Shiva, in the same direction Draco had wandered off. The two found him standing a ways down another tunnel entrance, this one again big enough that Harry could imagine a full sized dragon passing through it with no issue. "You actually waited for me, Draco?"

"Not likely, Potter." The ghost answered, his voice filled with dismay and anger. He flicked his finger in the air, and a visible shimmer of magic rippled in the air. "I shouldn't even know what these are, but I do. They're the Hogwarts wards, specifically one to keep the Hogwarts ghosts from leaving. I didn't agree to be a Hogwarts ghost!"

Harry gently touched the air where Draco had, and nothing happened. Stepping through where the ward was, Harry shrugged as he didn't even feel a tingle. He hadn't expected to, as he wasn't a ghost.

Almost immediately, Draco bounced off the ward as he tried to rush it. "Damn it, Potter." Draco's voice was resigned now. As Harry watched, the dead boy seemed to get ahold of himself. "I'm going to go find Dumbledore and make him let me through. My father is on the Board, he can make Dumbledore let me go."

"I really don't think the Headmaster purposely trapped you, Draco." Harry said, but was ignored as Draco turned around and began moving back through the tunnel, still muttering to himself. Harry watched as his feet left the ground completely and Draco was halfway through the stone before he vanished from sight.

Harry waited a moment before turning to Shiva who had also passed beyond the Hogwarts ward without any issue. She had a pensive look on her face. _"After we get further from these wards, would you please summon me, Harry?"_

Harry's eyes darted down the tunnel, his brain finally catching up on the fact that there weren't any torches, though he could still see just fine. "Something down there? And why can I see without any lights?"

Shiva shook her head. _"I do not know the answer to either of those questions. Just please summon me?"_ The slight quaver that Harry had heard in her voice when he'd awoken was back now. Harry couldn't do anything but nod.

He walked for another fifteen minutes down the tunnel, the last of the light from the Hogwarts torches faded and gone. And though there was no other light source, Harry somehow could see the tunnel in shades of grey. He knew a simple Lumos could resolve the issue of no light, but after a year and a half of being a Ravenclaw, the curiosity of this made him keep the area dark.

Finally, Harry stopped. Turning to look at Shiva, Harry pulled on his own magic, but made sure to not pull from beyond it, where he could feel the magic of the Tri-Throne waiting. Offering it up to Shiva's materia, he felt a spike of interest from the other self inside him as he spoke. _"[Shiva of Ice and Snow, Lady of Winter. At your request, I summon you to appear before me.]"_

The voice that Harry spoke in took him off guard, as it was deeper and stronger than he was used to. Even as shards of ice formed from his magic to create the Esper of Shiva, Harry realized that there was a difference between the Dragon's Voice he had spoken with before and how he spoke now.

The ice fell away from Shiva almost gently, and she stood there garbed in her kimono as she watched Harry for several seconds. Then with a soft sob, Harry found himself encompassed in her arms.

For a moment, Harry was stunned. First by the emotion from Shiva, and second that for all her power and majesty, he had never noticed she was only a few inches taller than his barely over five feet self. Then his arms went around her in a hug as well.

After a very long moment, Shiva pulled herself back and calmed down a bit, but continued to leave her hands resting on Harry's shoulders, almost as if to assure herself he was real.

"Do you realize what happened to you, Harry? Had you died from the attack it would have been a horrible, tragic thing. But what you did put your very soul at risk. When you claimed the throne, before Firewing accepted you, the power of every dragon in existence was against you. It was shredding your soul into nothing. There would have been no release to Hades, or whatever realm takes souls now that Hades governs it no longer." Honest fear for Harry coated her words.

Harry shook his head, meeting her eyes. "It was die either way, Shiva. At least doing it, I had a chance. And I survived, right?"

"Even with that dragon accepting you as Bahamut, I still don't understand how. A dragon is supposed to be the Aspect of Dragons, not a human." Shiva shook Harry's shoulders lightly, emotion in her voice. "Please, nothing that outrageously stupid again? If you die, I would return to slumber and mourn you, but I would know your soul moved on. But to destroy your soul?" She shook her head.

Harry nodded at that. His hand came up to rest on Shiva's, still on his shoulder. For all that she was of ice, her hand wasn't cold in the least. "I'd rather not risk either. I didn't have much of a choice this time. But let me know if something risks my soul again, and we can try to figure out a different way, ok?"

"Not can, we will." Shiva said with conviction. She gave Harry's shoulders one last squeeze before dropping her arms. "Understood?"

"Alright." Harry nodded, a touch of red on his cheeks, invisible in the dark he hoped. After a moment, he looked down the tunnel. "I guess we get to figure out how much further this goes."

The two walked a while longer, the dark not holding any mysteries to Harry, though the mystery of his being able to see in the dark intrigued him. Harry guessed that they had gone several kilometers before the tunnel ended. An enormous boulder was apparently wedged into the cave mouth, but a bit of real light bled through.

"_[Harry sire, are you there?]"_ The voice of Firewing's roar permeated the stone. Harry blinked in astonishment.

"_[Firewing?]"_

"_[I got all the other rocks out of the way sire, but I can't get the big one. Do I need to go get man-momma?]"_ Firewing called through.

"Either one of us could shatter this stone, Harry. Though you may want to leave an entrance to your throne at least partially hidden." Shiva spoke, gauging the rock.

"_[Float]"_ Harry spoke, his hand lifting up at the boulder.

"_[Why? Oh, oh! I see!]"_ Firewing called, before beating wings could be heard as the rock jerked quickly into the sky, wobbling at least fifty feet in the air.

Harry however, was driven to his knees as the Command magic powered itself from the Tri-throne and the pulse of draconic magic overwhelmed his nerves, the act of actually using the throne's power bringing with it pain.

Shiva grabbed him and physically hauled him beyond where the boulder had hidden the entrance. "Let it go, Harry, we are out now." She whispered.

Harry released the magic and the ground shook as the boulder thudded back onto the ground.

"_[Harry sire!]"_ Harry looked up to watch Firewing land on the ground, and then the slightly bigger than Hagrid dragon prostrated himself on the ground.

Harry pulled himself to his feet to stare at the dragon. Putting a hand to his temple and rubbing, Harry shook his head slightly. _"[Please do not call me that.]"_

"_[Sorry, Lord Bahamut. Umm, please don't send me away?]"_ Firewing seemed to shiver against the ground, a sad sound reverberating from him.

"_[I meant don't call me sire.]"_ Harry sighed. _Will I ever get a chance to just catch my breath for five full minutes?_ He wondered to himself. _"[And I'm not going to send you away, Firewing. I promise.]"_

"_[Yay!]"_ Firewing seemed to bounce up from the ground, sinuous head bobbing in glee. _"[Thank you Harry sire.. I mean Lord Ba.. umm, Harry?]"_

Harry just laughed and nodded. _"[Where are we, Firewing?]"_

Firewing took to the air and spun around for a moment. _"[My cave at man-momma's is just a short flight away.]"_ Firewing settled on the boulder that hid the entrance to the throne once more, staring at the other rocks. He nudged a fairly heavy rock, half the size of Harry. _"[Do you think that one would look good in my cave, Harry?]"_

Harry looked at the rock, not really any different than any of the others. He nodded slowly. _"[Sure, I guess.]"_

Firewing pounced on the rock, pulling it off the ground with his forelimbs while pumping his wings to get lift. _"[I know just where to put it then. Thank you sire!]"_

The dragon wheeled off into the sky, back towards his cave.

Shiva actually giggled slightly at Harry, who stared into the distance where Firewing was fading out of view.

* * *

Apparently, what had been the Chamber of Secrets and was truly the Tri-throne wasn't exactly under Hogwarts, as Harry didn't think the walk from there underground had been as far as the walk back to the school was. The tunnel had come out on the other side of the Forbidden Forest where it thinned out against the beginning slope of the mountains.

With no other choice but to enter the forest to make it back before dark, both Harry and Shiva had forged their way through. Whether by luck, happenstance, or the forest denizens sensing the magical power that Shiva held Harry wasn't sure, but there were no encounters with anything worse than a few thorny brambles that didn't really want to let him go. Three hours in the forest had found a path leading towards the school, and another hour had put them out at Hagrid's hut.

For all that his robes were torn by branches and brambles, Harry though it unfair that Shiva's own kimono was completely unmarred still. Another point for something she had done that caused them to encounter nothing in the forest.

As the two came around the back of Hagrid's hut, Harry was surprised to find Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape standing a ways away, facing towards him. Both held their wands at the ready, but appeared shocked at his arrival as well.

Harry had other things on his mind, however, as his eyes locked on the wing of the castle that held the hospital. He needed to see how Mr. Flamel was, and let Phoenix know he'd held his end of the bargain.

As Harry and Shiva walked past the two, Snape put away his wand. "Potter, what in blazes are you doing out here? Taking a lark with your girlfriend, when the castle is specifically under lock down due to the attacks?"

Harry ignored the insult, though it irritated him.

Snape continued on though. "You mother should have let you die and run away herself, Potter. She sacrificed her life to try to save yours, and you throw away her sacrifice by ambling through the Forbidden Forest with a scantily clad woman for company when you know attacks have been happening in the castle."

Harry knew what his mother's sacrifice had done to save him, he'd seen it in the Mirror of Erised. More than Snape knew. His mother had sacrificed her life to bind fire in him, fire to burn Voldemort. Angry, nearly enraged, Harry turned around to respond, only to find the other inside him was beating him to the punch. Magic roared through him as his other opened the connection to the Tri-Throne, and a palpable wave of power began building as his own anger at Snape's words seemed to feed into the anger held by the other aspect of his mind.

Harry felt himself slipping, his anger giving his other self strength enough to take control. Magic boiled up his body, building inside him and he could feel it beginning to search for release.

It was the course of seconds between insult and reaction. But Harry felt surprise that it wasn't even himself that reacted first. Shiva moved quicker than the magic in Harry could build to a critical point, and she slammed a fist into Snape's gut. Unlike Lockhart who had protection against her form, Snape did not. Ice formed around the potions professor as he fell to the ground numb.

Harry wrested control back from himself and in doing so, truly understood what it was. Draconic instincts roared back at him, demanding personal retribution against the one that enraged him. Shiva's first attack had mollified the instincts to where they weren't demanding Harry destroy him, but they still demanded satisfaction.

Harry's next word was influenced by that, and the fact that although the instincts could govern the power of the Tri-Throne, they couldn't mute the pain in his body. _"__**[Imp]" **_The King of Dragons passed judgment.

The body of Severus Snape shimmered like a mirage, fading and being replaced by a green three foot creature with a spiked shell on its back. The ice that had half frozen the wizard was gone.

Harry stared at the imp for a moment, before looking up to a flabbergasted Professor McGonagall. The Deputy Headmistress gaped at the transformed man.

Harry couldn't quite find the words for what he wanted to say, actually not even sure what he wanted to say. As the imp pulled itself up to its feet, Harry turned and continued walking towards the school with Shiva next to him again.

"Potter!" Snape's voice was higher, but still recognizable. "Potter, you'll be expelled for this!" Harry ignored him, knowing it'd probably be true. But he had other things to worry about now. "Minerva, reverse this please." The last words Harry heard from him sounded almost petulant.

* * *

The Hospital Wing was silent when Harry entered, only to find the Headmaster standing, his wand held at the ready. Harry yelped at the wand pointed at him, ducking out of the way. Shiva just stared at him.

"Mr. Potter?" The Headmaster's voice was quizzical. "May I enquire as to what happened?"

The room seemed to shift a bit as magic dropped, showing the other occupants of the Hospital Wing. Nicholas was still unconscious in his bed, and Professor Flitwick had been moved to a bed of his own.

"Draco didn't find you yet then, I guess." Harry answered.

Madam Pomfrey moved forward with a chair. "Sit down, Albus. Whatever the wards jerked you out of your sleep for isn't here like you thought it was. Now sit."

The headmaster took the seat with care, and Harry could see how worn out he still looked. "Why would Mr. Malfoy be looking for me?"

Harry knew what he was about to say was going to get him a full check-up, so he sat down on one of the very few remaining beds, with most of the eyes in the room on him. Best to just get it over with quick. "I managed to kill the basilisk. And Voldemort possessed Professor Lockhart. He's dead too. Draco's dead as well, but that's because Voldemort stole his body. Draco's a ghost and trapped on the grounds, he wants you to let him go."

Harry thought it interesting that they flinched at Voldemort's name. Especially after the incredulous looks and gasps at the death of the basilisk.

A weak chirping came from near Nicholas' bed. Harry looked over and saw the young Fawkes. "Are we done?"

Harry didn't hear an answer, as Madam Pomfrey descended on him.

That, he'd expected. And he really could have guessed at being made to explain things further, but to have to do so during the examination? Some things really were cruel.

* * *

It was late that evening before Pomfrey finished her exam. Harry had finished his explanation of events to the Headmaster hours before that, but not before Dumbledore had sent the healed students back to their common room.

Professor McGonagall had shown up somewhere in there as well, and the frown on her face had never left, as she had quietly discussed something with the Headmaster behind some sort of spell, though Harry had a pretty good idea what it was.

"Albus." Pomfrey interrupted their conversation. The Headmaster looked up, waving his wand to end the spell. "I assume you want to know the results?"

The Headmaster nodded wordlessly, his eyes looking at Harry with curiosity.

"First, Mr. Potter's eyes. They've shifted to a vertical slit. Normally I would say like a cat's, but there are a number of small differences. Given the story he told, I have to accept the idea that they may be dragon shaped."

That had been something Harry was surprised to find out, though it made sense that that was what had let him see in the dark tunnel away from the throne.

"Additionally, his body has undergone some very odd changes. I once knew a man who attempted to become an animagus. He managed to change part way, and a well meaning friend transfigured him back. Thinking it was over, the man tried again. It took me three days to pick apart the Transfiguration enough to let him shift back through animagus means. Mr. Potter's body seems to be in something similar to that state."

Here there were a number of worried looks directed at him, though Shiva didn't look it. The Ice Esper had abandoned her physical body hours before, to reduce the number of people crowding the Hospital Wing. He could sense her interest and curiosity, but there wasn't any anxiety from what he could tell. That helped keep him from worrying as well.

"There are any number of minor differences, but one major that I can't understand." Pomfrey continued her report. "Mr. Potter's body acts like he's ingested a slow acting Aging Potion, though I can't find any traces of it in him. For every hour I've tracked, his body has aged three. I've tracked it with Age Lines, and he can cross them based on his body aging. Given two years at this if it doesn't wear off, he could magically pass as an adult."

_Now that might not be so good._ Harry thought to himself as he watched the adults descend into a very high level discussion over the effects on him. Harry tried to follow along as best he could.

"_You wish to be a child forever?"_ Shiva answered back.

_No. But why would the Tri-Throne make me age faster?_ Harry questioned back. _I kind of understand the other changes._

* * *

A/N the final: The End. Or really, The Beginning. Voldemort managed to escape with a body, and Harry's going to have to learn all the new things that come with the Tri-Throne. I hope to have Chapter 1 of the next story up within the next month or so. Keep an eye out for it, folks.

Read and review, it's the coin of the realm.


	29. Notice

Before I tell you I'm beginning to post the new story, I'd like to make one statement.

I abhor slash, and will not write it. If you want it, go hit youtube for Harry Potter and the Brokeback Phoenix.

Anyways, new story is up. Harry Potter, Bahamut. And it's after the new year, not the new school year peeps!


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